RNS
\nBy Valerie Faciane
\nNew Orleans — It’s been nearly two years since the statue of St.
\nGabriel last stood at the main entrance of St. Gabriel the Archangel
\nCatholic Church. Six feet of water poured into the church after
\nHurricane Katrina, toppling the statue and ruining the walls, pews,
\naltar, piano and organ, in addition to the church office and rectory.
\nEver since the church reopened three months after Katrina hit,
\nparishioners have been sitting on folding chairs; a covered table serves
\nas the altar.
\nThe only thing missing was the hand-carved statue of the church’s
\npatron saint.
\nNow, after an interfaith restoration effort that took the 5
\n1\/2-foot-tall statue to Philadelphia and back again, St. Gabriel has
\nreturned to Gabriel’s. Some say he looks better than before, and
\nsymbolizes the hope that their lives, community and city will be rebuilt
\neven better than before the storm.
\nThe parish welcomed the statue back on Sunday (Aug. 5) in a nearly
\ntwo-hour Mass. The statue stood on its brand new cypress pedestal, next
\nto the makeshift altar.
\n“The statue is obviously symbolic of our parish,” said the Rev.
\nDouglas Doussan. “We’re named after the Archangel Gabriel. The
\nrestoration of the statue is symbolic of the restoration of people’s
\nhomes, people’s lives, restoration of our parish and restoration of our
\ncity.”
\nBut this is no ordinary statue.
\n“These strangers just dedicated themselves to bringing it back,”
\nsaid parishioner Belinda Rodgers.
\nThe Philadelphia-based Interfaith Community Building Group, which
\nwas formed in 1996 in response to a spree of black church fires across
\nthe South, not only restored the statue but also rebuilt the back wall
\nof the damaged church building.
\nThe first church the group helped rebuild was in Rocky Mount, Miss.
\n“We thought this was going to be a one-time effort,” said ICBG
\nmember Frank Hollick, who returned to New Orleans for the rededication
\nMass. “Well lo and behold, here we are 11 years later.”
\nWith him were fellow parishioner Dale Mezzacappa, along with Peter
\nHandler and Carol Towarnicky from Philadelphia’s Mishkan Shalom
\nSynagogue.
\n“The interfaith element of this group has become so important to all
\nof us,” Hollick said, “because what it makes us realize is that there
\nare a lot more similarities in different faith communities than there
\nare differences.”
\nIt took the expertise of Handler, a furniture craftsman; Joe
\nBrenman, a sculptor; Leon Zakurdayev, a Russian-born wood carver; Philip
\nHousner, a wood turner; Joe Winter, a sculptor; and his wife, Kathy, a
\npainter, to put St. Gabriel’s statue back together.
\nThe ICBG members first came to New Orleans a year ago to help
\nrenovate the church and parishioners’ homes. At the time, Handler and
\nBrenman were able to restore minor fractures in a statue of Mary on
\nsite.
\nBut the statue of St. Gabriel was so heavily damaged that they asked
\nDoussan, the parish priest, to ship it to Philadelphia for restoration.
\nThe statue was packed in separate pieces for transportation; all but the
\nwings arrived at their destination.
\nHandler knew that Zakurdayev, the woodcarver, was the best person to
\nre-create the wings, but the only point of reference he had was a
\npicture.
\nHandler said the picture was taken before the statue was shipped
\noff, “of me holding up one wing, Joe (Brenman) holding another wing and
\nDoug (Doussan) standing behind.”
\nUsing the picture, Zakurdayev and the others were able to
\nextrapolate the dimensions and re-create the wings.
\n“He is one of the best in the world in what he does,” Handler said
\nof Zakurdayev. “He carved every feather in the wings.”
\nFifteen-year-old Mia Malone, who is blind, ran her fingers across
\nthe etchings on the wings as her father, Daryl, stood by her side.
\n“It’s beautiful,” Mia said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
RNS By Valerie Faciane New Orleans — It’s been nearly two years since the statue of St. Gabriel last stood at the main entrance of St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church. Six feet of water poured into the church after Hurricane Katrina, toppling the statue and ruining the walls, pews, altar, piano and organ, in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n