| Religious Pioneers with its subtitle Building the Faith in the Archdiocese of New Orleans is a publication worthy of special recognition in the annals of the beginnings and expansion of the Roman Catholic Church in Louisiana and the influence of men and women religious in its history.
The introduction by Charles Nolan, Archdiocesan Archivist, sets the background for the stories of members of the various religious congregations who dared to face the unknown and to venture into it. Spreading the Word of God through their courage and works of charity, they influenced the development of the Church in the U.S.A. and particularly in the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
Beginning with the arrival of the heroic, cloistered Ursulines in 1718 - under Mother St. Augustin Tranchepain - and continuing through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the "portraits" of some thirty-one religious carry the reader into the lives and ministries of religious congregations. Some of these women and men labored in secular and religious education, others in the care of the sick and the poor, still others in the protection of the underprivileged, especially orphans of the destructive yellow fever and cholera epidemics. Their ministries covered disturbing periods of national and international wars, of civil and political disturbances as varied as the Civil War and school integration.
The stories are told with respect for and appreciation of the dedication of the person and the topic treated. The styles are simple and correct, varied and attractive, so that the reader never tires of moving from one subject to the next. In some instances the reader could wish for more history or for even greater detail on the life and ministry of the person being presented. And perhaps the biggest regret is the absence of several well-known religious orders who for various reasons did not include one of their pioneers in this history.
The driving force behind Religious Pioneers, a project of the Religious Congregation Archivists of Greater New Orleans, has been Saint Mary's Dominican Sister Dorothy Dawes, O.P. Sister Dorothy invited, cajoled, pushed, pulled, and followed through with the many details attached to such a tremendous project. She was responsible for organizing, supervising, and bringing to conclusion this invaluable undertaking. During the 200th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase, Religious Pioneers seems a fitting contribution of Roman Catholic religious congregations to this historic celebration.
Religious Pioneers: Building the Faith in the Archdiocese of New Orleans
reviewed by Sr. Madeleine Sophie Hebert, MSC |
