Our Sunday Visitor's Disaster Response: Katrina Rebuilding Effort

Traditionally, Church organizations focus on long-term needs when responding to disasters

By Joyce Duriga

Where are all of the Catholics?" That's what Father Michael Tracy, pastor of Our Lady of the Gulf Parish in Bay St. Louis, Miss., was asking in the weeks after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. He was referring to what he saw as an absence of the Catholic Church and faithful amid hurricane relief efforts. 

He was not alone. Catholics across Mississippi and Louisiana shared his concern, despite the fact that in the two months following the storm, the Archdiocese of New Orleans and the Diocese of Biloxi distributed more than 10,000 tons of food and supplies and distribute several million dollars in aid. Volunteers from the Diocese of Biloxi canvassed its communities on foot and by car to assess needs and deliver supplies. The Archdiocese of New Orleans did the same.

So why do few people know of all of the good work done in the name of the Catholic Church in the United States during this major disaster? The reason is twofold. First, much of the Church's relief efforts are handled by local Catholic Charities agencies -- the social-service arms of dioceses -- which are not set up as first responders to disaster. Second, Catholics have a history of not promoting their work.

Not first responders

Traditionally, Catholic Charities and other groups like St. Vincent de Paul Society focus on long-term recovery efforts, such as job placement, counseling and housing assistance, and leave the immediate relief assistance to trained organizations like the American Red Cross.

Some are looking for a better system.

"I think that we as Catholics have to look at being involved in relief as well . . . It is part of giving people hope to let them know that their Church is involved," Biloxi Bishop Thomas Rodi told Our Sunday Visitor during a media tour of the area earlier this month.

During that same media tour, New Orleans' Archbishop Alfred Hughes said the Church should ask itself whether "we should position ourselves as at least a partner on the first level."

Father Larry Snyder, president of Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA), said it's not that easy.

"We just don't decide who does disaster response. By contract, the government says FEMA [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] and the Red Cross have all the power." He added that The Salvation Army is also a first responder.

"When they are unable to fill response need we [Catholic Charities] fill in the gaps," Father Snyder told Our Sunday Visitor. CCUSA is a membership organization for Catholic Charities agencies across the country. They also facilitate the distribution of diocesan collections for hurricane relief, which have topped $100 million.

Disaster plans

While it's not likely that CCUSA will become a first-responder organization, Father Snyder said his organization has been in contact with U.S. government officials about providing better response to natural disasters in this country.

"Neither FEMA nor the Red Cross were adequate in their response. Catholic Charities had to help take up the slack of the first response," he said, adding that there is "discussion in Washington that the system is intrinsically inadequate."

While that discussion carries on, CCUSA recommends that dioceses around the country prepare for the future.

"I think it [Hurricane Katrina] is a wake-up call for all of us. Every parish and every diocese needs a disaster-response plan," Father Snyder said.

As part of the plan, he recommends someone in each parish become certified in the American Red Cross' disaster-response training so that when a crisis occurs, they are tapped into the local emergency network and can coordinate the Church response with the larger efforts.

"The more each parish can be better prepared, the more the diocese and community can be prepared," he said.

Unnoticed efforts

The other reason more people may not hear about the Church's disaster response is that Catholic groups often conduct relief work behind the scenes and on many occasions don't publicize their work. Catholics do not have the tradition of promoting their relief work as do The Salvation Army or the Southern Baptist Convention. So, disaster victims aren't aware that it's the Catholic Church helping them.

"When we do [our work] you don't see flashy vans, you don't see ads on television . . . . We're working pretty quietly," said Father Snyder.

He said he believes this is similar to how some other faith-based groups work.

If the Church's relief efforts are little known, it doesn't concern Archbishop Hughes.

"I would be concerned if we were not there, not if we were not known or were not recognized," he told Our Sunday Visitor.

Bishop Rodi takes a different view.

"I think a lot of the good that we do for relief goes unnoticed," he said, adding that several diocesan employees said they were mistaken for the American Red Cross when distributing aid. In an effort to make their work more public, the diocese purchased its first van with "Catholic Diocese of Biloxi" written on the sides to use in its recovery efforts. He also sent a letter out to the people of his diocese detailing the relief the Church has given.

"How we as a Church are present in a natural disaster affects our community for years to come," Bishop Rodi said.

Overall, the question of where Catholics are in disaster-relief efforts mystifies Father Snyder because Catholic groups are in most every community providing assistance, he said.

"When people say 'Where are you?' I don't know where they're looking."

--Joyce Duriga is the associate editor of Our Sunday Visitor. She recently participated in a Catholic media tour of the hurricane-damaged areas.