Last week I had the opportunity to travel to Long Beach, Mississippi to determine what if anything we as a parish could do to assist the people of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish.  I stayed with the pastor Fr. Louie Lohan a wonderful charismatic Irish priest who I quickly discovered was embraced in a mutual loving relationship with his parish family.  He was not only warm, friendly, and a joy to be with but a hard worker and humble as well.  On the way from the airport he told me that they had lost everything and after a brief stop at his new and inadequate rectory we headed for the beach so that I could see first hand what his words meant. 

Over the next three days I spent many hours touring the area.  The destruction was wide spread with at least thirty miles or more of the coast- line wiped out.   Street after street was empty of structures.  Houses, churches, schools, offices, and businesses, in this once vibrant community were swept away.  It was like a bulldozer had come in, leveled everything and then just moved the rubble off site.  Mississippi National Guard troops protect the area and to help prevent looting it is cordoned off with razor wire.  Passes are required to enter this devastated area.  I have seen destruction before but never to this magnitude.  What also was amazing were the structures in the midst of all of this destruction that were untouched by the storm.  No broken windows no ripped off roof tiles, no water damage.  It was as if Katrina never occurred.  Over the three days that I was there I took many photos which I am looking forward to sharing with you.  They will give you an idea of the massiveness of the destruction but will not do it justice. 

St. Thomas’ church could not be in a more idyllic position.  It is located right across the street from the beach and faces the Gulf of Mexico.  The church was a beautiful structure.  The lower half of it along with the pews, altar, bathrooms, sacristy, sacred vessels, and vestments are all gone.  In 2002 they had added a parish center with a huge commercial kitchen and again the frame remains but everything else is gone.  Their school was totally destroyed nothing but a pile of twisted beams scattered bricks and broken glass.  A separate gym facility had its metal framework intact but again nothing else remained.  Six to eight pilings are what remain of the rectory and offices that sat next to the church.  Fr. Louie told me when he evacuated to safer quarters he only took his passports and few small things.  He never thought that the storm would be as catastrophic as it turned out to be.  He was sorry he didn’t take more because he lost all of his personal belongings plus all of the church records.  On a more personal basis his loss was even greater.  Two priest friends and himself bought a retirement home a couple of miles from St. Thomas and just finished settling in when the storm hit, needless to say their house and everything in it is gone. The only thing that remains is the slab the house was built upon.  With all of his losses piling up on him he is not sure if he wants to rebuild.  Emotionally he is spent.  It will take time for him to recover and maybe then he will be able to reassess the situation in a more balanced way. 

The wave surge ripping through the area was estimated to be twenty-five to thirty feet high.  Cars, boats, furniture, appliances, and much more are now resting on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.  It will be years before these communities recover from Katrina.  What I witnessed was chaos.  People are numb.  Functioning only because they have to but the reality has yet to set in.  People are coming from many parts of the country to help but at this stage of the process of recovery they are far from organized.  Clean-up is the main item on their agenda.  [I spoke with Fr. Louie on Monday and he told me that things are constantly changing.  They thought that they would be coordinating the rebuilding process for their parish family but after talking to the people from FEMA they decided to let them take care of it.  They were not aware of all the risks and responsibilities involved in the rebuilding process.  They would have to be responsible and liable for the construction not only now but in the future as well.  With everything else they are dealing with this was just a burden they did not need or want.

At this time insurance claims are just beginning to be processed and with all things church related this will be an even longer process.  The Diocese of Biloxi like every other diocese did not carry enough insurance to cover the damage sustained by the various parishes in the path of this storm.  They have a 35 million dollar cap on their policy and Bishop Rodi believes that the actual amount of their overall loss will be somewhere between 50 and 100 million dollars.  There are so many questions that must be asked and answered that they are all going to need our prayer support to help them sort out the right way to proceed.  Emotions are running high and everyone wants what they had before the storm to be restored as it was but that may not happen.  Logic would demand churches and schools to be combined or moved to safer ground but the emotions of the people may force the status quos to prevail.  I certainly would not want to be in the Bishop’s position because no matter what decision he arrives at he will be criticized for not making the right one.  As I see it he is between a rock and a hard place.

I went to Long Beach to determine if we would be able to form a partnership with St. Thomas’ parish family but I do not believe that they are ready for one at this time.  Once the chaos has subsided and they determine their actual needs we can begin to look at the process of partnership.  In the meantime they need our prayers and if possible our help in cleaning up.  With such mass destruction supplies needed in the re-building process are hard to come by.  Stores they relied upon for basic necessities were destroyed themselves.  Pressure is heavy on the ones remaining because instead of serving one community they are now serving others as well.  The neighboring community of Pass Christian for example was 70% destroyed.  The people who are left from that community are now forced to shop else where to obtain what they need to live on.  Lines are longer supplies are shorter.  The demand for building supplies will be massive and the wait to obtain them, long.  Another factor that has yet to be calculated is how many of the people who were displaced will return and if they return will they be able to afford the cost of rebuilding.  To say that it is a mess is an understatement.  It will be years before these communities return to any form of normal living that is provided another hurricane does not come along and repeat Katrina.

You might be wondering what St. Thomas’ is doing for worship space and classrooms while waiting to rebuild.  The Knights of Columbus lost their facility and purchased an old roller skating rink which they offered to the parish as temporary quarters.  The people of the parish renovated the facility which is hardly adequate and not only did St. Thomas move in but St. Paul’s from Pass Christian asked if they could send their children to school there as well.  It is grossly overcrowded with some classes having as many as 45 students.  Temporarily parents will endure these conditions but not for long and who could blame them. 

At Mass on Wednesday morning Fr. Louie asked me publicly for my thoughts and if I had any words of wisdom to share with the people and I said, "Move to Albany."  It received a laugh but no takers.  They didn’t want to deal with the snow and the cold.  But HURRICANES!