A History of the Archdiocese of New Orleans

Little Red Church, Destrehan, predecessor of St. Charles Borromeo (1723)

In 1725, Capuchin Father Raphaël de Luxembourg established the colony's first, though short-lived formal school on St. Anne Street. Layman Pierre Fleurtet and Capuchin Brothers St. Julien and Cyril taught boys Reading, Writing, Music, French, Latin and Religion. On May 18, 1826, "The pupils are yet a small number but there are few young people in the colony. The majority of the inhabitants who are in a position to send their children to school are satisfied to have them taught to read and write and regard all the rest as useless. However, there are five or six of them who are pursuing other subjects and are succeeding wonderfully in them."

In 1727, Ursuline nuns from France arrived in New Orleans to take charge of the Royal Hospital and to provide education for the colony's girls and women. The Sisters immediately opened a school for young daughters of European and Canadian colonists. They also began instructing African and Native American girls, playing a major role in the evangelization of Louisiana's African Catholics. After the Natchez uprising in 1729, the nuns took in many young orphan girls rescued by the French retaliatory expedition.

1734 Eucharistic procession from the Ursulines' temporary residence to their first permanent convent, from the letters of Marie Madeleine Hachard (Sr. Stanislaus. O.S.U.):

"At about five o'clock we rang our two bells as a signal. Soon, following the order of M. de Bienville, Governor of Louisiana, the troops, Swiss as well as French, began to file off and ranged themselves in order on both sides of our old house. The Reverend Jesuit and Capuchin Fathers in the number of five ... accompanied by a numerous enough clergy ... children and choristers ranged themselves in our Chapel. Messrs. de Bienville, Governor, and de Salmon, Intendant, did us the honor of being present, as well as all that were there of upright folk in the town and almost all of the people. The Reverend Father Philippe, Capuchin, rector of this parish, incensed the Blessed Sacrament. Several verses of the Pange Lingua were sung. Benediction being given, the procession began to march ....

"We went out in order, having on our church capes, veils lowered and each a lighted candle of white wax. Our Mother Superior and Assistant [were] near the Blessed Sacrament which was carried under a rich canopy. Our little sisterhood, which was composed of nine religious [followed together with] twenty or twenty-five young girls dressed as angels. One of the girls represented St. Ursula. She was clothed in silver tinsel with a large trailing mantle of the same material, her hair dressed with ribbons of pearls and diamonds, a small veil flowing from her head and a superb crown. She held in her hand a heart pierced by an arrow. The whole was done with marvelous industry. Eleven young girls clothed in white, holding palms in their hands, represented the eleven thousand virgins and accompanied St. Ursula. The little ones were angels.

"The soldiers ranged along both sides of the street marching in file in good order, leaving between them and us a distance of four feet. Their drums and fifes joining with the songs made an agreeable harmony. The people began the march, our day students followed, our thirty orphans, each with a candle in hand making the third section; afterwards the ladies of the congregation having each her burning candle were in the number of more than forty. The community and the clergy terminated the march. The precession [then] entered the parish church where we were placed in the sanctuary, the Most Holy Sacrament being placed on the altar."

St. Louis Cathedral as rebuilt
after being destroyed by fire, 1794

St. Louis Cathedral as reopened in 1852 after 1849-1851 renovation; this is substantially the present church

Étienne Bernard Alexandre Viel (1736-1821) was the first native of Louisiana to be ordained a Catholic priest. He was an educator, published classicist, Latin poet in Europe, and occasional priestly minister at St. Martinville in Louisiana.

The 1853 yellow fever epidemic was one of the most deadly in New Orleans. An estimated 8,400 died in the city - more than five percent of the total population. Five priests, five Daughters of Charity, and four Brothers of the Holy Cross were among the victims.

1938 Eucharistic Congress,
evening Mass

"Everyone in New Orleans is Catholic," remarks a local Catholic school principal. "If New Orleanians are not Catholic, they are in a sense catholic with a little 'c.'" Regardless of who you are, you live in a parish, not a county; you stroll St. Peter, St. Ann and St. Philip Streets; your neighboring parishes are St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John, St. James, Ascension and Assumption; you eat fish on Friday and give up something for Lent; you go on retreat to Manresa or the Cenacle, regardless of your religion; you enjoy All Saints' Day as a holiday and perhaps visit the family tomb at a local cemetery because it is the eve of All Souls Day. Even Carnival festivities begin on the feast of the Epiphany and end on Mardi Gras, the eve of Ash Wednesday. Catholic names, feasts and traditions are simply part of life in New Orleans and South Louisiana.

- Charles Nolan, Author

Dr. Nolan & Jaime Cardinal Ortega y Alamino

Jaime Cardinal Ortega y
Alamino, Archbishop of
Havana, at the archdiocesan
archives viewing Bishop
Pañalver's signature with
archdiocesan archivist,
Charles Nolan

Pope John Paul II with Archbishop Hannan in St. Louis Cathedral, September 1987

Archbishop Francis B. Schulte and Coadjutor Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes in Notre Dame Seminary chapel

Coadjutor Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes and Archbishop Francis B. Schulte in front of Notre Dame Seminary

Bishops and Archbishops

Bishop Luis Peñalver y Cárdenas
(1749-1810)
Bishop of Louisiana and the Two Floridas
(1795-1801)

A native of Havana, Cuba; ordained a priest at Havana in 1772; engaged in pastoral and administrative work in the Diocese of Santiago de Cuba (1772-1787) and the Diocese of Havana (1787-1793); appointed to the newly-established Diocese of Louisiana and the Two Floridas in 1793; consecrated bishop at Havana in 1795; transferred to Archbishopric of Guatemala in 1801; resigned and returned to Havana in 1806; died in Havana in 1810.

Bishop Francisco Bartolomé
Porro y Reinado
(1739-1814)
Bishop of Louisiana
and the Two Floridas
(1801-1803)

A native of Gibraltar in the Diocese of Cadiz, Spain; ordained a priest [n.a.]; consecrated Bishop of Louisiana and the Two Floridas at Rome in 1801; faculties for Diocese granted but departure delayed because of rumored sale of Louisiana; transferred to the Diocese of Tarazona in Spain in 1803; died in Tarazona in 1814.

Bishop Louis William Valentin Dubourg
(1790-1833)
Bishop of Louisiana and the Two Floridas
(1815-1823)
Bishop of Louisiana
(1823-1826)

A native of Cap Français in Sainte-Domingue; ordained a priest in Paris, France, in 1790; during the French Revolution, fled to Baltimore where he served as President of Georgetown College and founded St. Mary's College and Seminary; joined the Sulpicians in 1795; named administrator of the Diocese of Louisiana and the Floridas in 1812; consecrated Bishop of Louisiana and the Two Floridas in Rome in 1815; served as bishop from 1815 to 1826; the name was changed to the Diocese of Louisiana in 1823; Bishop of Montauban in France (1826-1833); Archbishop of Besançon in France (February, 1833-November, 1833); died in Besançon.

Bishop Joseph Rosati
(1789-1843)
Coadjutor Bishop of Louisiana
(1824-1826)
Apostolic Administrator of New Orleans
(1826-1829)

A native of Sora in the Kingdom of Naples; joined the Vincentians in 1807; ordained a priest in Rome in 1811; served in Papal States, Kentucky, and Missouri; consecrated Coadjutor Bishop of Louisiana in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, in 1824; Coadjutor Bishop with residence in St. Louis (1824-1826); apostolic administrator of newly-created Diocese of St. Louis (1826-1827) and first Bishop of St. Louis (1827-1843); Apostolic Administrator of Diocese of New Orleans (1826-1829).

Bishop Leo de Neckère
(1799-1833)
Bishop of New Orleans
(1830-1833)

A native of Wevelghem, Diocese of Ghent, in Belgium; joined the Vincentians in 1820; ordained a priest in Perryville, Missouri, in 1822; served as educator and missionary in Missouri and Louisiana; consecrated Bishop of New Orleans at St. Louis Cathedral in 1830; died in New Orleans during a yellow-fever epidemic in 1833.

(Arch)Bishop Antoine Blanc
(1792-1860)
Bishop of New Orleans
(1835-1850)
First Archbishop of New Orleans
(1850-1860)

A native of Sury-le-Comtol, Archdiocese of Lyons, France; ordained a priest in Lyons, France, in 1816; served at Vincennes in Indiana, Natchez in Mississippi, and Pointe Coupée and Baton Rouge in Louisiana before Bishop de Neckère called him to New Orleans in 1831 as his Vicar General; consecrated Bishop of New Orleans in 1835; named first Archbishop of New Orleans in 1850; died in New Orleans in 1860.

Archbishop Jean Marie Odin
(1800-1870)
Second Archbishop of New Orleans
(1861-1870)

A native of Hauteville, Ambierle, Archdiocese of Lyons, France; joined the Vincentians in 1822; ordained a priest in Perryville, Missouri, in 1823; served as educator and missionary in Missouri, Arkansas, and Texas; named apostolic administrator of Texas in 1841; consecrated titular Bishop of Claudiopolis in New Orleans in 1842; transferred to newly-created Diocese of Galveston in 1847; named Archbishop of New Orleans in 1861; died in Hauteville in 1870.

Archbishop Napoléon Joseph Perché
(1805-1883)
Third Archbishop of New Orleans
(1870-1883)

A native of Angers, France; ordained a priest at Beaupreau, France, in 1829; served in the Dioceses of Angers (1829-1837) and Bardstown [Louisville], Kentucky (1837-1842); transferred to Diocese of New Orleans in 1842 where he served as chaplain to the Ursuline nuns and founded the first diocesan newspaper, Le Propagateur Catholique, in 1842; consecrated titular Bishop of Abdera and Coadjutor Archbishop of New Orleans at New Orleans in 1870; succeeded to the Archbishopric of New Orleans twenty-four days later; died in New Orleans in 1883.

Archbishop Francis Xavier Leray
(1825-1887)
Fourth Archbishop of New Orleans
(1883-1887)

A native of Châteaugiron, France; ordained a priest at Natchez, Mississippi, in 1852; engaged in pastoral work in Mississippi (1852-1876); consecrated Bishop of Natchitoches, Louisiana, at Rennes, France, in 1877; named Apostolic Administrator and Coadjutor Archbishop of the financially troubled Archdiocese of New Orleans in 1879; succeeded to Archbishopric of New Orleans in 1883; died in Châteaugiron, France, in 1887.

Archbishop Francis Janssens
(1843-1897)
Fifth Archbishop of New Orleans
(1888-1897)

A native of Tilburg, Holland; ordained a priest in Ghent, Belgium, in 1867; served as a pastor and administrator in the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia (1867-1881); consecrated Bishop of Natchez, Mississippi, at Richmond, Virginia, in 1881; Bishop of Natchez (1881-1888); succeeded to the Archbishopric of New Orleans in 1888; died at sea in 1897 and buried in New Orleans.

Archbishop Placide Louis Chapelle
(1842-1905)
Sixth Archbishop of New Orleans
(1897-1905)

A native of Runes, Lozère, Diocese of Mende, France; ordained a priest at Baltimore, Maryland, in 1865; did pastoral work in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., where he became a personal friend of three presidents - Arthur, Harrison, and Cleveland; consecrated titular Bishop of Arabissus and Coadjutor Archbishop of Santa Fe at Baltimore, Maryland, in 1891; Coadjutor Archbishop (1891-1894) and then Archbishop (1894-1897) of Santa Fe; transferred to Archbishopric of New Orleans in 1897; died in New Orleans in 1905 while ministering to the victims of yellow fever.

Archbishop James Hubert Blenk
(1856-1917)
Seventh Archbishop of New Orleans
(1906-1917)

A native of Neustadt, Bavaria, Germany; converted to Catholicism in New Orleans in 1869; entered the Marist Fathers in 1878; ordained a priest, at Dublin, Ireland, in 1886; served as professor and later president of Jefferson College and pastor of Holy Name of Mary Parish in Algiers; consecrated Bishop of San Juan, Puerto Rico, at New Orleans, in 1899; transferred to the Archbishopric of New Orleans in 1906; died in New Orleans in 1917.

Archbishop John William Shaw
(1863-1934)
Eighth Archbishop of New Orleans
(1918-1934)

A native of Mobile, Alabama; ordained a priest at Rome in 1888; served as a pastor, cathedral rector, and Chancellor in the Diocese of Mobile (1888-1910); consecrated titular Bishop of Catabala and Coadjutor Bishop of San Antonio at Mobile in 1910; Bishop of San Antonio (1911-1918); transferred to the Archbishopric of New Orleans in 1918; died in New Orleans in 1934.

Joseph Francis Rummel
(1876-1965)
Ninth Archbishop of New Orleans
(1935-1964)

A native of Steinmauern, Baden, Germany; immigrated to New York City as a young boy; ordained a priest at Rome in 1902; served in pastoral work in Archdiocese of New York (1903-1928); consecrated Bishop of Omaha, Nebraska, at New York City in 1928; transferred to the Archbishopric of New Orleans in 1935; died in New Orleans in 1964.

John Patrick Cardinal Cody
(1907-1982)
Coadjutor Archbishop of New Orleans
(1961-1964)
Tenth Archbishop of New Orleans
(1964-1965)

A native of St. Louis, Missouri; ordained a priest at Rome in 1931; served in the Vatican Secretariate of State and Archdiocese of St. Louis (1931-1947); consecrated titular Bishop of Apollonia and Auxiliary Bishop of St. Louis in 1947; Coadjutor Bishop of St. Joseph, Missouri (1954-1956); Bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri (1956-1961); titular Archbishop of Bostra and Coadjutor Archbishop of New Orleans (1961-1962); Apostolic Administrator of New Orleans (1962-1964); Archbishop of New Orleans (1964-1965); transferred to the Archbishopric of Chicago in 1965; named a Cardinal-Priest in 1967; died in Chicago in 1982.

Philip Matthew Hannan
(1914- )
Eleventh Archbishop of New Orleans
(1965-1989)

A native of Washington, D.C.; ordained a priest at Rome in 1939; served as a paratroop chaplain during World War II and served briefly as pastor of the Cathedral in Cologne during the American occupation; engaged in pastoral and administrative work in the Diocese of Washington (1945-1956); consecrated titular Bishop of Hieropolis and Auxiliary Bishop of Washington, D.C. at Washington in 1956; transferred to the Archbishopric of New Orleans in 1965; retired in 1989; presently serving as President of the Board of Trustees of WLAE-TV, a public television station.

Archbishop Francis Bible Schulte
(1926- )
Twelfth Archbishop of New Orleans
(1989- )

A native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ordained a priest in 1952 for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia; served as a teacher, school superintendent, and pastor (1952-1981); consecrated titular Bishop of Afufenia and Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia at Philadelphia in 1981; Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia (1981-1985); Bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia (1985-1989); transferred to the Archbishopric of New Orleans in 1989.

Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes
(1932- )
Coadjutor Archbishop of New Orleans
(2001- )

A native of Boston, Massachusetts, ordained a priest at Rome in 1957 for the Archdiocese of Boston; received a doctorate in spiritual theology at Rome's Gregorian University; served as a faculty member, spiritual director and then rector of St. John's Seminary (1962-1981); consecrated titular Bishop of Massimiana in Bizacena and Auxiliary Bishop of Boston at Boston in 1981; Auxiliary Bishop of Boston (1981-1993), serving as regional bishop for Boston's Merrimack Region (1986-1990) and Vicar of Administration (1990-1991); Bishop of the Baton Rouge, Louisiana (1993-2001); installed as Coadjutor Archbishop of New Orleans in 2001.