Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church (New Orleans, Louisiana)

The Church Our Lady of Good Counsel is found in the Garden District of New Orleans, on Louisiana Avenue. Dedicated in 1894 by the Most Reverend Francis Janssens, the parish was named for the miraculous fresco of Our Lady of Good Counsel now found in Genazzano, Italy. The reproduction above the Marian altar is documented to have been touched to the sacred original, and was blessed by Pope Pius XI. It was recently restored, to great effect.

The pipe organ, manufactured by the Wicks Organ Company (Opus 2804), dates from 1947, and was moved to its present location relatively recently.

In 2008, the Most Reverend Alfred Clifton Hughes, Archbishop of New Orleans, suppressed the parish and closed the church, amid much acrimony. People occupying the church after orders to vacate it were arrested by the police. The parish was merged with St Stephen Church, on Napoleon Avenue; the new parish is called Good Shepherd Parish, which also incorporates the Church of St Henry.

On April 24, 2010 (Feast of Our Lady of Good Counsel), Hughes's successor, the Most Reverend Gregory Aymond, allowed Mass to be celebrated in the edifice. From the following July, the public recitation of the Dominican Rosary has been held on Wednesdays of every week, and plans are in the making to turn the church into a Shrine of Our Lady of Good Counsel.

External links

• Photographs.
• Further photographs.