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In early October 1965, Archbishop Philip M. Hannan arrived at New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Betsy. Where many may have seen hopeless despair, Archbishop Hannan saw hopeful opportunity. He immediately began rebuilding the local Catholic Church and creating a network of social services, ministering to the most vulnerable in the community.Archbishop Hannan's ministry in New Orleans was rooted in his familial upbringing, priestly formation, and his exprience as a military chaplain. While his personality endeared him to presidents, heads of state, and celebrities, it was his spirit of charity that endeared him to the people of New Orleans and beyond.
This exhibit, which opened in 2013, commemorates the extraordinary life of a man who lived to his fullest vocation to the priesthood. His legacy lives on in the people he served and the lives he touched.
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Philip Matthew Hannan, was born in Washington, DC, on May 20, 1913. He was the fifth of eight children born to Patrick Francis Hannan and Lillian Louise Keefe. Patrick Hannan, an Irish immigrant known by friends and family as "The Boss," came to the United States at 18 and found work as a plumber, building his trade into a flourishing business. As his graduation from St. John's College High School approached, Philip Hannan startled his family at dinner by announcing that he would enter the seminary to pursue a vocation to the priesthood.
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Hannan entered the seminary of St. Charles College in Catonsville, MD in September 1931. Because he was at the top of his seminary class at Basselin Seminary in Washington, DC, Hannan was invited to attend the North American College in Rome, where he continued his seminary studies from 1936–1939. He was ordained to the priesthood on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception: December 8, 1939. His family could not attend his ordination due to the start of World War II in Europe. He celebrated his first mass at the Greek Chapel of the Catacombs of St. Callistus. In May 1940, Hannan began his priesthood in the US at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Baltimore, MD.
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Father Hannan earned the nickname the "Jumping Padre" ministering as chaplain of the Army's 505th Parachute Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division. As an army chaplain in Europe, Father Hannan often celebrated Mass on the battlefield using the hoods of military jeeps or stacked ration boxes as altars. Father Hannan is credited with saving the cathedral in Cologne, Germany, and was present at the liberation of Nazi Concentration Camps.
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Hannan was ordained Auxiliary Bishop of Washington, DC on August 28, 1956. In 1965, he was elevated to Archbishop of New Orleans. As archbishop, he established the Social Apostolate and several other social-service programs to serve the poor and needy of the New Orleans area. New Orleanians loved him for his gentleness and his reputation of always getting a job done. His official retirement as archbishop in 1988 did not stop his ministry, but expanded it as he founded Focus Worldwide Television Network.
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