In the Archdiocese of New Olreans, uninsured losses are high:

The estimate of uninsured flood damage to the archdiocese’s 1,274 buildings now stands at $120 million, far more than the $84 million the archdiocese estimated in the spring, when it released a plan to temporarily reorganize worship and parish life among dozens of flooded church parishes.

That plan grouped nearly three dozen parishes whose churches were destroyed in Orleans, St. Bernard, Plaquemines and St. Tammany parishes with nearby church parishes whose facilities were damaged but functional. For example, Our Lady of Prompt Succor Parish in Chalmette is now the only working Catholic parish in St. Bernard. It serves Catholics in seven nearby church parishes, which technically still exist but have not reopened since the storm.

Hughes said Monday the archdiocese expects to spend about $52 million just to repair churches and schools like Our Lady of Prompt Succor that are serving as temporary hosts to their closed neighbors.

He said Catholic agencies and ministries throughout the country have donated or committed about three-quarters of that amount. But Hughes said he has told local pastors they will have to try to raise the balance, about $13 million, on their own.

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