Guadalupe reaches out to formerly incarcerated

By Christine Bordelon
Clarion Herald

Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish and its International Shrine of St. Jude on the outskirts of the French Quarter regularly encounter the indigent and those living on the margins.

“What’s legendary about this parish is its connection to the homeless,” said parishioner Mary Jo Devlin.

To address some of the needs of this population and others, Devlin and other parishioners formed a social justice committee in September 2022.

“I’ve always been an activist person,” said Mary Brandon said, a member of the social justice committee who holds social justice and law degrees and is thrilled to fuse her faith with efforts to help others.

So is group facilitator Tom Baier, who first came to New Orleans as a Jesuit Volunteer Corps member, then spent 25 years as a campus minister and a theology teacher at Brother Martin High School and Ursuline Academy.

Baier currently is an outreach coordinator at UNITY GNO, which works with the homeless. He holds a master’s in theology from Notre Dame Seminary, where he read every social encyclical of the Catholic Church, reinforcing his resolve to do more for those less fortunate. Social justice is also a pillar of Ignatian spirituality.

“We hope to talk to parishioners and ask what their concerns about social justice are,” Baier said of the committee, “to continually keep in mind the challenges of social justice. You just can’t give people money.”

Member Kerry Southall concurs, hoping the committee can “put it out to parishioners and then the people can volunteer in what they want to do.” 

The group’s first action was to pinpoint one area where they would concentrate efforts. Members chose incarceration. 

“What are we doing to help the transition (from jail back into society)?” Oblate Father Tony Rigoli, Our Lady of Guadalupe pastor, asked. His parish regularly helps with food and money, and, as a former barber, Father Tony even gives haircuts. 

While the parish also supports the Oblates’ mission in Tijuana, Mexico, the formerly incarcerated are different.

“If they don’t have any support, they go back to prison,” Father Rigoli said. “Our mission as a church is how do we reach out to those on the margins, to people who feel nobody cares.”

Education came first
Members of the social justice committee educated themselves on ways to help the formerly incarcerated and researched local agencies that already provide services so as not to duplicate those services.

Members invited several speakers, including Susan Weishar of the Jesuit Social Research Institute at Loyola University, to not only discuss social justice issues but also have the formerly incarcerated interact with parishioners to learn their plight when they are released. They also organized a get-out-the-vote campaign.

Devlin learned about Women Determined, a nonprofit organization that houses formerly incarcerated women and helps them become thriving community members. After attending Women Determined’s play, “Released to Nowhere,” performed by formerly incarcerated women, she organized its production at Our Lady of Guadalupe on Martin Luther King Day. More than 100 people turned out and learned that women are released from prison with only $20, tattered clothes and no place to live. 

“People said they just got so much out of it,” Father Rigoli said. “I did, too. I didn’t realize what people go through when they come out.”

As a parish Lenten activity, the committee is sponsoring a return performance of “Released to Nowhere” on March 10 at 3 p.m. at Our Lady of Guadalupe’s hall. Donations will be accepted for Women Determined to raise money to help women become independent. The committee is working to have the performance livestreamed.

“It’s a thing we can do as part of our Lenten ‘pray, fast and almsgiving,” Father Rigoli said.  

In addition, Our Lady of Guadalupe is developing ways to volunteer with the nonprofit Start Corporation that recently bought the former St. Jude Community Center across Rampart from the church and with the nonprofit Grace at the Greenlight, which provides the unhoused food (a hot breakfast every morning from 6:30-7:30 a.m.), water, clothing and more.

“It’s been a blessing in many ways,” Father Tony said of the sale, “particularly how they dovetail what we are trying to do.”

Committee members want their actions to have local impact. 

“We hope to offer help to the underserved who don’t have much of a voice,” said member Lana Whitlow.

“I think we can make a difference in New Orleans for the people we know,” Southall said.

The Social Justice committee meets again Feb. 20 at 6 p.m. in the parish hall 410 Basin St., at the rear of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which is located at 411 North Rampart St. in New Orleans.

[email protected]