| We are 100 Years Old! |
On August 15, 2007, the Jesuit Province of New Orleans officially celebrated its one hundredth anniversary. On June 7, 1907, the Jesuit Superior General, Fr. Francis Xavier Wernz, S.J., changed the status of the former Mission of New Orleans to the Province of New Orleans. The changeover was actually promulgated on the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady, August 15th of that year.
This Centennial will be an opportunity to celebrate our past successes, to learn from our mistakes, and to discern God's will as we move forward in the service of His people.
In a letter to the Jesuits of the New Orleans Province on the occasion of the opening of this Centennial celebration, August 15, 2007, our Father General Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J. wrote:
"I send you greetings and congratulations on the occasion of the first centennial of your Province ... May this time of jubilee in your Province be a time of reflection on the continuing and growing needs of the people of God and of thanksgiving for the many graces received during this hundred years of service ... Let the same love that inspired so many members of the New Orleans Province to give their lives in the service of their neighbor continue to inspire you to work for the faith that does justice in our world today." (You may wish to read the entire text of this letter.)
In looking back over the past we begin by considering the documents from Rome that in 1907 promulgated the creation of this new province and then some of the ways the various local communities celebrated the event that same year.