Can New Orleans Be Revived?

We see it mentioned with depressing regularity:  New Orleans is a mess.  Is there a way to revive what was once one of the leading cities of the South?
 
That depends on the solutions offered.  A merely materialistic approach – good jobs with good pay, good housing, better policing, etc. – will not get us very far.  It is part of the answer, but man is body and soul, not just a body.  If we tend to the body but neglect the spiritual side of man, we will get an imbalance in society, which breeds societal illnesses – just like an imbalance in a single body breeds illness there.  This is why, for instance, we see euthanasia increasing in wealthy American and European States/countries:  Though they are awash in material comforts, they have no will to live because the Christian faith is collapsing.
 
We need to build with both hands, so to speak – the material and the spiritual.  There are examples in Christian history we can look to for guidance and inspiration.  One is the Holy Prince and Martyr Andrew of Russia (+1174), who not only built cities and defended them against enemies but also blessed them with many churches to strengthen the souls of the people:

A brave warrior [Andrew means “brave”], a participant in his military father’s many campaigns, more than once he came close to death in battle. But each time Divine Providence invisibly saved the princely man of prayer. Thus for example, on February 8, 1150, in a battle near Lutsk, Saint Andrew was saved from the spear of an enemy German by a prayer to the Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates, whose memory was celebrated that day.
 
The chronicles also stress Saint Andrew’s peace-making activity, a rare trait among the princes and military commanders of those harsh times. The combination of military valor with love for peace and mercy, of great humility with indomitable zeal for the Church were present in Prince Andrew in the highest degree. A responsible master of the land, and a constant coworker in the city construction and church building activity of Yurii Dolgoruky, he built with his father: Moscow (1147), Iuriev-Polsk (1152), Dmitrov (1154), and he also adorned the cities of Rostov, Suzdal’, and Vladimir with churches. . . .
 
Thirty churches were built by Prince Andrew during the years of his rule. The finest of them is the Dormition cathedral. The richness and splendor of the church helped to spread Orthodoxy among the surrounding peoples and foreign merchants. . . .
 
The conquest of the great Volga journey-way became for Saint Andrew a fundamental task of his civil service to Russia. The Volga Bulgars from the time of the campaigns of Svyatoslav (+ 972) presented a serious danger to the Russian state. Saint Andrew continued with the initiatives of Svyatoslav.
 
A shattering blow was struck against the enemy in 1164, when Russian forces burned and destroyed several Bulgar fortresses. . . . 

​And the layout of a city is also important for transmitting Christian ideals to her citizens.  Father Andrew Phillips of England writes about the design of Bristol, to give but one example (this was how most cities in Christian lands were designed prior to the onset of Modernity, something touched upon also in this podcast):

Bristol provides a classic example of a later sacred town-plan. Built on untouched land on the north bank of the River Avon from the eighth century on, by the eleventh century it was the most important city in the West of England. To the south of Bristol ran the River Avon, to the north the River Frome. Bristol was built within an elliptical wall between these two natural features, with the north and south sides of the wall touching on the two rivers. It presented then the form of a circle. Within the circle, roads running north, south, east and west, formed the sign of the cross. Thus the whole plan was that of a cross within a circle, symbolising that the Cross triumphantly dominates the Universe.
 
At the centre of the cross of streets, there stood a preaching cross, set up on steps. (This cross was taken down in the eighteenth century amid much popular protest that something vital was being removed from the town). The preaching-cross was faced by four churches, one in each corner of the City. In Bristol today there survive only two of these: All Saints and Holy Trinity (now called Christ Church). The two surviving churches are typical city centre dedications, emphasising the centrality of the Holy Trinity and all the saints. Close to the centre are other churches. These include St Mary le Port - the Mother of God stands close by, but apart from, the Holy Trinity. To the north of the city, outside the walls on high ground, nearer to Heaven, stands the church of Bristol's Guardian Angel in the form of the church of 'St Michael on the Mount Without'. At the northern entrance to the City, St John the Divine keeps watch in his church, 'St John on the Wall'. By the old port, almost opposite the church of St Mary le Port, stands the church of St Nicholas, the Patron-Saint of seafarers. Another church standing inside the city walls is St Peter's, which looks out towards the castle and its dungeons, witnessing to St Peter in chains. Standing guard on the outskirts of Bristol (as around Canterbury and so many other towns and cities), there were until the 'Reformation' monasteries. Around Bristol these were dedicated to St Augustine, St Mark, St Bartholomew and St James.
 
--‘Sacral Town-Planning’

​Politicians often give lip-service to Christianity when campaigning for office:  ‘I’m a Christian and a conservative.’  ‘I’ll fight for our Christian values.’  And so on.  But they usually don’t get around to implementing truly Christian policies.  For the sake of a brighter future for New Orleans, she needs someone like a Prince Andrew who will not only defeat the criminal element, not only restore essential infrastructure, not only build up private businesses; but also use the powers and finances of the city to build churches and monasteries (and otherwise adjust the fabric of the city into a Christian orientation), and encourage the folks of New Orleans to attend them – by word and example.
 
A good exemplar of this kind of leader in our own day is found in Viktor Orban, Hungary’s Prime Minister.  In a recent interview, he had the following to say, amongst other key things:

. . . Christianity, first of all, created the free man. Therefore, we must – first and foremost – protect human dignity. Then, Christianity created the Christian family. We must protect the concept of the Christian family. Next, Christianity has created nations in this part of the world. If we Hungarians had not followed Christianity for a thousand years, we would have disappeared; so we must also protect the nation. But we also have to protect religious communities and the Church. To summarize, our task is not to protect theological principles, that is the mission of the Church; but our mission is to protect the great Christian achievements of our civilization.…
 
Political power creates joint action through political action, through elections, the constitution, or otherwise. Yet we must not forget God’s authority either. Joint action cannot be achieved only by political means, it should also be established spiritually. It is the task of the Church, and of the servants of the Church, to establish joint action by leadership… and we [politicians] do that by political means. When these two sides are connected, great results are achieved. For that reason, we will never accept the separation of Church and State as it is interpreted in the West.…
 
 . . .
 
If we were in the Middle Ages and I needed a slogan for my banner to sum up my work and my thought. I’d say “Only dead fish swim with the current.” Whoever swims with the multicultural fad of our time, loses everything that matters in life. True, those who go against the current cause themselves a lot of problems. … But if we don’t pay that price and if we don’t stand up for our interests, we may live more comfortably but we will end up losing a lot more.…
 
--Translated by Srdja Trifkovic

​Whether New Orleans thrives or continues in her slow agony of death depends on whether or not leaders with the vision, and the courage to implement it, of a Prince Andrew or a PM Orban step onto the scene.  And even if they do, will the people of New Orleans welcome them or chase them away, preferring the sewer of rank materialism to the profound goodness and beauty of the Grace of God found in His Church?  New Orleans already has good material to work with:  St Louis Cathedral, the Ursuline nuns, Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral, and so forth.  Hopefully, God willing, they will choose the better part if given the opportunity.