New Orleans archbishop starts tenure with visit to grave of Venerable Henriette DeLille

Archbishop James Checchio of New Orleans, who officially took over the reins in the Crescent City archdiocese this week, began his tenure with a stop at the grave of an African-American Catholic on the path to sainthood.

Following the retirement of Archbishop Gregory Aymond on Feb. 11, Checchio—who served for three months as coadjutor—automatically succeeded him and paid a visit the same day to the resting place of Venerable Henriette DeLille, foundress of the Sisters of the Holy Family.

“He visited the tomb… to [pray] for her intercession for our archdiocese, our people, the sisters, and his ministry as archbishop,” the archdiocese said in an announcement.

Checchio was joined at Saint Louis Cemetery #2 in the Iberville district by members of the Holy Family Sisters, which were founded in 1837 to allow local free Creole women of color to join religious life. DeLille had previously been denied entry into multiple orders due to her Black ancestry, despite her being a mixed-race woman able to pass for White.

The sisters today work in education, eco-justice, social outreach, senior housing, and healthcare—including operation of one of the nation’s oldest nursing homes, the LaFon Nursing Facility. They have been led by superior general Sr Alicia Costa since 2022.

On Wednesday, Checchio was pictured praying with the sisters at DeLille’s grave, which has been a site of pilgrimage since shortly after her death in 1862. She is buried near the graves of her cofounders in a special plot owned by the sisters. Her cause for sainthood was opened in 1988, and Pope Benedict XVI affirmed her heroic virtues in 2010, granting her the title “Venerable.”

A special archdiocesan “Our Family Prayer” was instituted by Archbishop Aymond in 2011 for use at all Masses, with a closing line requesting the intercession of Venerable Henriette for the local population to function as “a holy family.”

DeLille is one of seven African-American Catholics on the path to sainthood, and one of four Venerables. The next stage, beatification, requires the Vatican to confirm a miracle believed to have been wrought by the intercession of the deceased individual. To date, no African American has ever been beatified or canonized in the Catholic Church.

Among the holy sites connected to DeLille include her grave; the Holy Family Sisters’ motherhouse and St. Mary’s Academy in New Orleans East; the Old Ursuline Convent in the French Quarter, where she professed her first vows; and a special prayer room named in her honor at nearby St. Louis Cathedral, in the former baptistery where she served as a witness and sponsor at countless marriages and baptisms.

Archbishop Checchio will celebrate his first Mass as archbishop at the cathedral basilica on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 18, at noon CT.

Nate Tinner-Williams is co-founder and editor of Black Catholic Messenger.

Like what you're reading? Support BCM with a tax-deductible gift!

a.) click to give (fee-free) on Zeffy

b.) click to give on Facebook