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Work Carried On
All the while, the good pastor was working hard to pay off the debt of the parish church. The debt was $13,000 when he came into the parish. This he paid off within the space of a few years. He erected the Stations of the Cross at a cost of $1400, a new school building at $7500 and the beautiful stained glass windows amounting to $14,000. In addition he finished the interior of the church at a cost of $30,000.
The schools in the parish are flourishing and the students number 478. Both St. Stanislaus college and St. Joseph’s Academy are accredited by the state of Mississippi and by the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. This is the highest academic rating possible. As our schools are second to none in the diocese, so are the spiritual advantages of the parish of Our Lady of the Gulf. Father Gmelch, with his assistants, Father Leo Fahey and Father Patrick Moran, are earnestly striving to carry on the work so nobly begun by the pioneer missionary, Father Buteux, 90 years ago.
An article written by Rev. Leo F. Fahey, published in the Centennial Edition of Catholic Action of the South, Vol. 5, No. 45., New Orleans, LA., Thursday, October 14,1937, to commemmorate the 100th Anniversary of the Disocese of Natchez 1837 -1937.
Michael R. Cuevas, typist, August 15, 1997.