For New Orleans 300th anniversary one of the 300 most important people is a Catholic Archbishop who was bigger than life

Archbishop Philip M. Hannan, shepherd to a city: 1 of 300

A portrait of Archbishop Phiip Hannan by artist Alexandra Kilburn of Where Y'Art, as commissioned by NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune for its "300 for 300" celebration of New Orleans' tricentennial. (NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

By Mike Scott

NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

The Times-Picayune is marking the tricentennial of New Orleans with its ongoing 300 for 300 project, running through 2018 and highlighting 300 people who have made New Orleans New Orleans, featuring original artwork commissioned by NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune with Where Y'Art gallery. Today: former New Orleans Archbishop Philip M. Hannan..

The icon: Philip M. Hannan.
The legacy: When newly appointed Archbishop Philip M. Hannan arrived in New Orleans to lead the region's Catholics, he found a city on its knees. Just weeks earlier, in September 1965, Hurricane Betsy had laid waste to the city. Hannan was not dissuaded. For the next 46 years -- half as archbishop, half in retirement -- he shepherded to his flock with energy and compassion. In particular, he championed the city's poor, as well as playing a key role in welcoming Vietnamese immigrants to the city in the 1970s. In the process, the son of Irish immigrants became more than the face and the voice of the local Catholic Church. He became a New Orleanian, through and through.
The artist: Alexandra Kilburn, WhereYart.net.
The quote: "I could feel these people had a certain morale. I knew these people would come back." -- Archbishop Philip M. Hannan, discussing the attitudes of New Orleans after Hurricane Betsy

Explore more of Alexandra Kilburn's work online at WhereYart.net
and in person at the Where Y'Art gallery, 1901 Royal St.

TRI-via

• Hannan was born in 1913, the son of an Irish immigrant plumber and a four-generation Washingtonian.
• He attended high school at St. John's College High School, a military school. He was offered a scholarship to West Point but decided instead to enter the seminary.
• He was ordained Dec. 8, 1939 in Rome and was assigned to St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Baltimore.
• After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1942, Hannan enlisted in the Army as a chaplain and was assigned to the 505^th Parachute Regiment of the 82^nd Airborne Division, ministering to paratroopers. That posting earned him the nickname "the Jumping Padre" and provided him with the title of his 2010 autobiography: "The Archbishop Wore Combat Boots -- From Combat, to Camelot, to Katrina."
• In 1945, Hannan was part of a unit that helped liberate a concentration camp at Wobbelin, Germany.
• Hannan became a close confidante of President John F. Kennedy. He delivered the eulogy at Kennedy's funeral in 1963, presided over the funeral of Robert F. Kennedy five years later, and led prayers at the funeral of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in 1994.
• In 1965, he became the 11^th archbishop of New Orleans. Almost immediately, he began social services programs to assist the city's poor and elderly, including founding of the Second Harvest food bank.
• When the NFL awarded the city a professional football franchise in 1967, Dave Dixon -- a driving force behind the awarding of the team -- sought Hannan's blessing before naming the team the Saints. "He thought it was a good idea," Dixon would later say. "He had an idea the team was going to need all the help it could get."
• Hannan would become a fan of the team, even attending the Saints' victory in Super Bowl XLIV in Miami. He was 97 at the time.
• In 1983, Hannan was the recipient of The Times-Picayune's Loving Cup, given annually since 1901 to men and women who have worked unselfishly for the community without expectation of public recognition or material reward.
• Hannan once said that his proudest moment as archbishop came in 1987, when he and New Orleans played host to Pope John Paul II.
• As required by the Catholic Church, he retired at age 75. He remained active even in retirement however, and ended up living to see the tenures of three of his successors.
• Hannan died in 2011 at the age of 98. His body was moved in a procession from the Notre Dame Seminary to St. Louis Cathedral, where, as is tradition, he was buried beneath the cathedral floor near the altar.
• The St. Augustine Marching 100 provided the music for the procession which, at Hannan's request, included a rendition of "Halftime (Stand Up and Get Crunk)," a song adopted by Saints fans as a raucous fight song.