Catholic Charities celebrates 100 years of service

By Peter Finney Jr.
Clarion Herald

Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans (CCANO) – formally established in 1924  by Archbishop John W. Shaw and headed by social pioneer Msgr. Peter Wynhoven – celebrated its 100th anniversary Mass Nov. 17 at St. Louis Cathedral, and it marked the beginning of a new era.

Marianite Sister Marjorie Hebert, who has served for the last 12 years as president and CEO of Catholic Charities, will retire at the end of December and will be succeeded by Cynthia Hayes, the former president of Cabrini High School in New Orleans.

Hayes attended the Mass and processed from the cathedral with Sister Marjorie.

“We stand on the shoulders of those men and women who have served in these past 100 years,” Sister Marjorie said, addressing the congregation before the final blessing. “I ask you to continue to pray for us and continue to support us. A new era begins.”

Making Christ’s love real

Archbishop Gregory Aymond, the principal celebrant, praised CCANO for embodying the love of Christ for others.

“One of the ways in which you and I can put our faith into action is what we celebrate today – Catholic Charities and its 100 years of existence in this archdiocese and the hundreds of thousands of people who have given so generously of themselves,” the archbishop said. 

“Today, as we celebrate that 100th anniversary, we thank God for all those who have gone before us – the Ursuline Sisters of 300 years ago, and all those who have followed in their footsteps and given of themselves in extraordinarily generous ways.

“Today’s anniversary invites us to ask the question, does my faith reach out to others? Yes, we importantly come here on Sunday and on other days, and we have faith and we pray. But we want to make sure that our faith is not just between ourselves and God – that it reaches out to others. When Jesus talks about it in the Gospel, he calls us to love the Lord our God but also to love our neighbors as ourselves.”

Catholic Charities offers more than 20 programs that serve the poor and vulnerable of all faiths.

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