Archbishop Joseph Rummel appointed Father Austin Carrico to establish St. Mary Magdalen Parish in the Airline Park subdivision in Metairie. On September 8, 1955, a legal corporation was established, "Congregation of SMM Roman Catholic Church, Jefferson Parish." The First Mass was celebrated at the Civic Center of the M. A. Green Subdivision. Within the first two years 137 baptisms, 4 marriages & 1 funeral were performed. The first Mass "on campus" was celebrated in the newly completed Chapel (present cafeteria) in 1957. Through a parish census, Father Carrico determined there were 427 families within the parish.

The School was established in 1957 with 330 students (grades K-4th) under the direction of the Sisters of Christian Charity. At the same time, the CCD Program (Parish School of Religion) was established by 18 women who instructed children in religious education in their homes or at a local public elementary school, once a week. In 1960, the School offered education through the 8th grade. At this time enrollment was 1,334 students. Enrollment reached it’s peak in 1965 with 2,000 students.

Also in 1957, the first Parish Fair was held. The Sisters encouraged everyone to pray to Mother Pauline, their founder, for good weather. They put pictures of Mother Pauline in every school window; however, the heavens opened despite their prayer efforts. Fr. Carrico asked the Sisters to never help in this way again! Fr. Carrico, decked out in rain gear and with a tractor, went to Airline Hwy to help pull out cars stuck in the mud! 

Over the next 14 years, as the population of Jefferson Parish continued to grow, five other church parishes were carved from the original boundaries of St. Mary Magdalen Church: St. Matthew the Apostle (1959), St. Philip Neri (1960), St. Edward the Confessor (1964), Our Lady of Lady Divine Providence (1965) and St Ann (1971).

In 1994, After many years of planning and tremendous fund-raising, the vision of our parish founders was finally realized with the renovation of our original church into our NEW church under the leadership of Fr. Earl LaRose. This major renovation included the addition of a chapel and a new library/media center on the second floor. Also added were a building to house the St. Jude Society, the Social Apostolate Ministry and a new small multi-purpose building to be used by the school. Today’s parish plant of eight buildings was complete, and the church was re-dedicated by Archbishop Schulte in 1994.

For more than half a century, thousands of faithful Catholics have worshiped, been educated, and have received life-sustaining Sacraments at St. Mary Magdalen. The priests, deacons and religious women who served at SMM Parish have provided the leadership for exceptional growth. Five pastors have led St. Mary Magdalen Parish: Fathers Austin Carrico (1955-1963), Bernard Mistretta (1963-69), Jerome Roppolo (1969-1985), Earl LaRose (1985-95), Robert Massett (1995-2016), and Christian DeLerno, Jr. (2016-present). To date, four parishioners have been ordained as priests and six have been ordained as Permanent Deacons.

Over the years three orders of religious sisters provided dedicated service to St. Mary Magdalen church and school,  including the Sisters of Christian Charity (1957-75), the Sisters of the Living Word (1975-1991), and the Teresian Sisters (1991-2008). In 2022, due to population shift that resulted in declining enrollment, St. Mary Magdalen Catholic School was closed after sixty-five years of providing outstanding Catholic education to the children of the parish.

Today, as always, St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church is a welcoming community of faith striving to heed God's call to live as disciples of Jesus Christ. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, SMM parishioners devote their time, talent and treasure to serve others through the dozens of active ministries in the parish. The fidelity and support of our present and past parishioners have sustained our parish over the years as we share in our mission to bring others to Jesus and His Church.