Auxiliary bishop of New Orleans
On November 19, 1996, Aymond was appointed auxiliary bishop of New Orleans and titular bishop of Acholla by Pope John Paul II.[4] He received his episcopal consecration on January 10, 1997, from Archbishop Francis Schulte, with Archbishops Philip Hannan and John Favalora serving as co-consecrators.[4]
Brian Matherne sex abuse case
As an auxiliary bishop of New Orleans, one of Aymond's duties included the oversight of Catholic schools in the archdiocese.[5] In 1998, Aymond allowed Brian Matherne, a coach at Sacred Heart of Jesus School in Norco, Louisiana, to remain in his post for several months after receiving information from an alleged abuse victim's father that Matherne had molested his son 13 years earlier. He dropped the matter without alerting police after unsuccessful attempts to speak to the alleged victim, then 24 years old, who later told the St. Charles Parish Sheriff's Office about the matter.
Matherne was arrested and pled guilty to molesting 17 children over 15 years. He is serving a 30-year sentence in the Louisiana State Penitentiary. Aymond defended the church, but later stated he should have fired Matherne.[6][7] In Austin three years later, Aymond began tightening the diocese's sex abuse policy, based partly on the Matherne case stating: "That painful experience – I will never forget it. It helped me to understand the complexity of pedophilia better."[6]
Archbishop of New Orleans
On June 12, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI named Aymond the 14th archbishop of New Orleans. He was installed on August 20, 2009, at the Saint Louis Cathedral. He continued, within the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, to chair the Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People and sits on the Committees for Campus Ministry, Education, Laity, and World Missions.[9] In a ceremony in 2009 at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, Benedict XVI bestowed the pallium upon Aymond.
On February 11, 2026, Pope Leo XIV accepted his resignation with Coadjutor Archbishop James F. Checchio succeeding him.
Aymond has faced challenges in "the aftermath of years of sex scandals and the unpopular consolidation of parishes and closing of churches for economic reasons," as phrased by Kevin McGill of the Associated Press. Even so, he said, "Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would come back here as [arch]bishop."[8] Shortly after his appointment as archbishop, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests issued a statement claiming he only "postures as someone who takes clergy sex crimes seriously".[6]
Aymond's predecessor, Archbishop Alfred Hughes, implemented a controversial post-Hurricane Katrina church consolidation program that reduced the diocese from 142 parishes to 108. The storm drove away nearly a quarter of the archdiocese's former membership and left it with nearly $300 million in physical damage.[6] Aymond has allowed several churches to re-open for special occasions.[10] Under his bishopric, the number of seminarians increased threefold.[11][12]
Introduction of the Roman Missal, third edition
Aymond, while serving as chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Committee on Divine Worship, announced in June 2011, that beginning in September 2011, diocesan bishops could permit the gradual introduction of the musical settings of the people's parts of the Mass that are sung from the new translation of the Roman Missal. Primarily, this affected the Gloria, the Holy, Holy, Holy, and the different Memorial Acclamations. This variation to the implementation of the Roman Missal, third edition, was set to take place in November 2011. It was authorized by the conference's president, Archbishop Timothy Michael Dolan of New York.[13]
