The Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana, officially the Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana ( Latin: ''Dioecesis Lafayettensis'', french: Diocèse de Lafayette en Louisiane), is a

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

of the

Catholic Church in the United States With 23 percent of the United States' population , the Catholic Church is the country's second largest religious grouping, after Protestantism, and the country's largest single church or Christian denomination where Protestantism is divided i ...

, and

sui juris ''Sui iuris'' ( or ) also spelled ''sui juris'', is a Latin phrase that literally means "of one's own right". It is used in both secular law and the Catholic Church's canon law. The term church ''sui iuris'' is used in the Catholic ''Code of Can ...

Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...

in full communion with the

pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana encompasses St. Landry,

Evangeline ''Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie'' is an epic poem by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, written in English and published in 1847. The poem follows an Acadian girl named Evangeline and her search for her lost love Gabriel, set during t ...

Lafayette Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to: People * Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette * House of La Fayette, a French noble family ** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757� ...

, St. Martin,

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

St. Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

(except Morgan City, which is part of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux),

Acadia Acadia (french: link=no, Acadie) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. During much of the 17th and early ...

, and

Vermilion Vermilion (sometimes vermillion) is a color, color family, and pigment most often made, since ancient history, antiquity until the 19th century, from the powdered mineral cinnabar (a form of mercury sulfide, which is toxic) and its correspondi ...

parishes in southcentral

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. The diocese includes the heart of

Cajun The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the U.S. state of Louisiana. While Cajuns are usually described as ...

Louisiana (

Acadiana Acadiana ( French and Louisiana French: ''L'Acadiane''), also known as the Cajun Country (Louisiana French: ''Le Pays Cadjin'', es, País Cajún), is the official name given to the French Louisiana region that has historically contained mu ...

) and is divided into four deaneries.

History

Pope Benedict XV Pope Benedict XV (Latin: ''Benedictus XV''; it, Benedetto XV), born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, name=, group= (; 21 November 185422 January 1922), was head of the Catholic Church from 1914 until his death in January 1922. His ...

erected the Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana on January 11, 1918, with territory taken from the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans ( la, Archidioecesis Novae Aureliae, french: Archidiocèse de la Nouvelle-Orléans, es, Arquidiócesis de Nueva Orleans) is an ecclesiastical division of the Roman Catholic Church spanning Jefferson ...

, designating Saint John's Church in Lafayette as the cathedral of the new diocese and making it a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...

of the same metropolitan archdiocesan see. On January 29, 1980,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

erected the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Lake Charles The Roman Catholic Diocese of Lake Charles (Latin: ''Dioecesis Lacus Carolini''), is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church spanning Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, and Jefferson Davis (civil) parishes in the southwest corner of the stat ...

, assigning approximately the western half of the original territory of the Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana to the new diocese and making the new diocese also a suffragan of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans. In 1974, Bishop Gerard Frey assigned

Gilbert Gauthe Gilbert Gauthe is an American former Catholic priest who served in the Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana from 1972 to 1983. In 1984, Gauthe became the first Catholic priest in the United States to face a widely publicized criminal trial for child ...

as a Boy Scout chaplain despite the fact that Gauthe had previously come to Frey's attention for having molested altar boys. Gauthe was stripped of his priestly duties after more allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced in 1983. Bishop Frey was criticized for his handling of Gauthe's case, and in 1985 expressed his regret, saying, "I ask for the prayers and understanding of all our people and of all people of good will of every faith and belief. I deeply regret and am distressed by the suffering that has taken place because of the tragic events in the diocese over the past several years." In total, the diocese settled for more than $20 million in lawsuits involving Gauthe. Gauthe was later jailed for violating the Texas sex offender registration law and released in April 2010. In 1986, diocese priest Robert Lane Fontenot was convicted of sexually abusing three children and received a sentence of one year in prison and two years of probation and forced residence at

Jemez Springs, New Mexico Jemez Springs (pronounced HEH-mes) is a village in Sandoval County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 250 at the 2010 census. Named for the nearby Pueblo of Jemez, the village is the site of Jemez State Monument and the headqua ...

. In 2008, the diocese agreed to pay a financial settlement to a former altar boy who claimed diocese priest Valerie Pullman had sexually abused him in 1972. Pullman later died in 2017 after being accused as early as 1966 of sexually abusing children at different parishes in the diocese. In October 2018, former Acadiana priest Felix David Broussard received a five year prison sentence after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography. On March 29, 2019, former Morrow priest Michael Guirdy plead to committing acts of child molestation while serving in the Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana. He had surrendered to police in June 2018 after he was charged and began serving time in prison. On April 30, 2019, Guidry received a seven-year prison sentence. In April 2019, the Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana released a list of 33 clergy who were "credibly accused" of committing acts of sex abuse while serving in the diocese.

Bishops

The following lists ordinaries (bishops and archbishops of the diocese) and auxiliary bishops, and their years of service. They are followed by other priests of this diocese who became bishops.

Bishops of Lafayette in Louisiana

Jules Jeanmard Jules Benjamin Jeanmard (August 15, 1879 – February 23, 1957), was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the first bishop of the new Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana from 1918 to 1956. Biography Early life Jules ...

(1918-1956) #

Maurice Schexnayder Maurice Schexnayder (August 13, 1895 – January 23, 1981) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana from 1956 to 1972. Biography Early life Maurice Schexnayder was ...

(1956-1972) # Gerard Louis Frey (1972-1989) #

Harry Joseph Flynn Harry Joseph Flynn (May 2, 1933 – September 22, 2019) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis from 1995 to 2008. He previously served as bishop of the Dioces ...

(1989-1994), appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis and subsequently succeeded to that see # Edward Joseph O'Donnell (1994-2002) #

Charles Michael Jarrell Charles Michael Jarrell (May 15, 1940) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, serving as bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana from 2002 to 2016. Jarrell served as bishop of the Diocese of Houma–Thibodaux in Louisia ...

(2002-2016) # J. Douglas Deshotel (2016–present)

Former auxiliary bishops

(1951-1956), appointed bishop in Lafayette *

Robert Emmet Tracy Robert Emmet Tracy (September 14, 1909—April 4, 1980) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as bishop of the Diocese of Baton Rouge in Louisiana from 1961 to 1974. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of t ...

(1959-1961), appointed Bishop of Baton Rouge * Warren Louis Boudreaux (1962-1971), appointed Bishop of Beaumont, later Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux

Other priests of the diocese who became bishops

The following served as priests in Lafayette before being appointed bishops elsewhere: *

Jude Speyrer Jude Speyrer (April 14, 1929 – July 21, 2013) D.D. was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the first bishop of the Diocese of Lake Charles, Louisiana. Biography Born on April 14, 1929, in Leonville, Louisiana, Speyre ...

, appointed Bishop of Lake Charles in 1980 * Sam Joseph Galip Jacobs (priest in Lafayette, 1964-1980), appointed Bishop of Alexandria in 1989 *

Glen Provost Glen John Provost (born August 9, 1949) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has served as the bishop of the Diocese of Lake Charles in Louisiana since 2007. Biography Early life Glen Provost was born on August 9, 194 ...

, appointed Bishop of Lake Charles in 2007

Landmarks

The oldest church in the

is the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

church of

St. Martinville St. Martinville (french: Saint-Martin)Jack A. Reynolds. "St. Martinville" entry i"Louisiana Placenames of Romance Origin."LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses #7852. 1942. p. 480. is a city in and the parish seat of St. Martin Parish, Louisiana ...

, dating back to 1765.

High schools

* Academy of the Sacred Heart, Grand Coteau *

Catholic High School Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...

, New Iberia *

Hanson Memorial High School Hanson Memorial High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Franklin, Louisiana Franklin is a small city in and the parish seat of St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 7,660 at the 2010 census. The city i ...

, Franklin * Notre Dame High School, Crowley *

Opelousas Catholic School Opelousas Catholic School is a private, Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and ...

, Opelousas * Sacred Heart High School, Ville Platte * St. Edmund High School, Eunice * St. Thomas More High School, Lafayette * Teurlings Catholic High School, Lafayette * Vermilion Catholic High School, Abbeville

Ecclesiastical province of New Orleans

:''See: List of the Catholic bishops of the United States#Province of New Orleans''

Notes

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana Official SiteBrief description of the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist

{{authority control Catholic Church in Louisiana Culture of Lafayette, Louisiana Lafayette Louisiana Christian organizations established in 1918 1918 establishments in Louisiana