Fr. Joe Hund participates in the Peace Prayer Walk. Photo courtesy of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
The Archdiocese of New Orleans Office of Justice and Peace, in conjunction with St. Mary of the Angels Parish (SMA), conducted a Peace Prayer Walk on Sept. 8, the feast of the Nativity of Mary. Joe Hund, pastor of SMA, was among the participants. The walk was in the Ninth Ward for several blocks and ended at a local playground. Along the way, participants stopped to pray for peace and reconciliation in New Orleans neighborhoods and for an end to crime and violence. Two of the designated locations were the Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans Head Start and the former Marianite Community. SMA parishioners were joined by students from Archbishop Rummel High School and the Micah Project, geared toward bringing people of different faiths together to build relationships and improve the quality of life in local communities. It was the first Peace Prayer Walk in the archdiocese since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak.