New Orleans, La., Sep 2, 2020 / 11:00 am
This report was first published by the Clarion Herald, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. It is reprinted with permission. The archdiocese offers a list of ways to help with recovery after Hurricane Laura.
Support groups for priests provide ongoing camaraderie and spiritual nourishment, and now that list of benefits can be expanded to include hurricane relief.
Just days after Hurricane Laura devastated the Diocese of Lake Charles in southwest Louisiana and damaged dozens of churches, eight members of a priests' support group bolted into action to aid their ninth member – Father Jeffrey Starkovich of St. Pius X Church in Ragley, Louisiana.
On Aug. 31, priests from the Archdiocese of New Orleans and the Dioceses of Houma-Thibodaux, Lafayette and Baton Rouge arrived in Ragley, just north of Lake Charles, driving U-hauls packed with donated water, food, soft drinks, paper goods, diapers, canned goods, ice and gasoline.