New Orleans churches 'bury' Hurricane Katrina five years later

According to New Orleans Catholic Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond, a Mass and interfaith service held at the St. Louis Cathedral not only marked the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, but an end to the storm.

Archbishop Aymond said, "Five years later, we remember the unwelcome visit of Katrina, but we have to put her to rest." The Mass was celebrated in honor of Our Lady of Prompt Succor and took place in the wake of a Katrina "funeral" a day before.

A Katrina casket was filled with personal prayers and notes from residents of New Orleans and closed, to the cheers and applause of celebrants. Aymond said that, this weekend, New Orleans buried Katrina. He concluded that "she has cause many deaths. We will not forget her, but she is buried."

The New York Theological Seminary is an institution dedicated to diversity, multiculturalism, social justice and religious tolerance. The mission of the seminary is to prepare men and women, from every walk of life, for careers in ministry.

Five years later: church recalls its fight against Hurricane Katrina

It's been five years since Hurricane Katrina tore its way through southeastern Louisiana, as well as the rest of the Gulf Coast. During the storm, 1,800 deaths were reported, many thousands were left homeless, and New Orleans experienced a 53.9-percent drop in population (between April 2000 and July 2006). In addition, more than $81 billion in property was destroyed, which makes Katrina America's most costly disaster ever.

The Rev. Dennis Watson is the pastor of the Celebration Church, situated in Metairie, a suburb of New Orleans along the east bank of the Mississippi River. Pastor Watson recounts his congregation's struggle to stay together in the face of overwhelming odds, and to serve God through the most difficult of pastoral challenges. The church dedicated its new facilities on 17 acres within the Lakeside District of New Orleans in 2004. However, Lakeside flooded and the levees couldn't hold against the force of Katrina.

For Pastor Watson and his congregation, their joint challenges to reclaim the church turned out to be a "teachable moment" that speaks to the endurance of the human spirit and the power of God's grace.

The New York Theological Seminary is dedicated to multiculturalism, diversity, religious tolerance and social justice. The mission of the seminary is to prepare men and women, from every walk of life, for careers in ministry.

A way of life disappears along Gulf Coast

The P and J Oyster Company has called New Orleans home for the past century. It's the oldest continuously operating oyster processor in America, according to some reports. However, according to oysterman Mitch Jurisich, oil leaking from the BP spill site has contaminated oyster beds his family has leased for many years. And, where it involves working the Gulf of Mexico for oysters, Jurisich said, "It's over."

As BP scientists and engineers, along with the U.S. Government, seek to stem the oil leak, already communities are seeing their way of life disappear before their eyes, as in the case of P&J.