Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana

The Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana (Latin: Dioecesis Lafayettensis, Diocèse de Lafayette en Louisiane), is a Latin Catholic ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans. The diocese was erected by the Vatican in 1918, and its current bishop is J. Douglas Deshotel. Covering St. Landry, Evangeline, Lafayette, St. Martin, Iberia, St. Mary, Acadia, and Vermilion parishes with exception to Morgan City of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux), the diocese is divided into four deaneries.

1700 to 1918
During the mid-1700s, when Louisiana was part of the Spanish Empire, Catholic settlers from Spain, France, and Germany started arriving in the Lafayette area. Starting in 1755, they were joined by numerous French Acadians whom the British had expelled from their home in present-day Nova Scotia. The following are the first Catholic parishes in the area:


 * St. Martinville, 1756
 * St. Landry, 1776
 * Grand Coteau, 1819
 * Vermilionville (now Lafayette), 1821

After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, all of present-day Louisiana became part of the United States. At that time, Louisiana was part of the Diocese of Louisiana and the Two Floridas, with its see city as New Orleans. In 1825, the Vatican renamed this diocese as the Diocese of New Orleans. The Lafayette area would be part of the Diocese of New Orleans, succeeded by the Archdiocese of New Orleans, for the next 93 years.

1918 to 1950
Pope Benedict XV erected the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana on January 11, 1918, with territory taken from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans. The pope named Monsignor Jules Jeanmard of New Orleans as the first bishop of the new diocese. Jeanmard designated Saint John's Church in Lafayette as the cathedral.

During his 38-year tenure, Jeanmard established Immaculata Seminary, St. Mary's Orphan Home, Our Lady of the Oaks Retreat House, the Catholic Student Center at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, a retreat wing of the Most Holy Sacrament Convent, a Carmelite monastery, and numerous schools and churches.

In March 1923, a crowd in Lafayette was on the verge of starting a race riot after being incited by the Ku Klux Klan. Jeanmard persuaded the people to return home. In 1934, he welcomed the first African-American priests into the diocese. Jeanmard also established a number of separate parishes for African-Americans, whom he did not want intimidated or infringed upon by whites. With financial assistance from Sister Katharine Drexel, Jeanmard helped establish several rural parochial schools for African-Americans in the diocese.

Jeanmard encouraged diocesan-sponsored television programs, religious radio programs in both English and French, and a diocesan newspaper The Southwest Louisiana Register. Jeanmard also issued pastoral letters in support of the rights of labor to organize.

1950 to 1990
In 1952, Jeanmard became the first bishop in the Deep South to ordain an African-American man to diocesan priesthood when he conferred holy orders upon Louis Ledoux. In November 1955, Jeanmard excommunicated two women from Erath, Louisiana, after they assaulted a woman who taught an integrated catechism class.

After Jeanmard retired in 1956, Pope Pius XII named Auxiliary Bishop Maurice Schexnayder as the next bishop of Lafayette in Louisiana. During his tenure, he built a new chancery building, expanded Immaculata Minor Seminary, established thirty-one parishes, and ordained eighty-one priests. In 1961, he established St. Eugene Catholic Church in Grand Chenier. Schexnayder retired in 1972.

In 1972, Pope Paul VI named Monsignor Gerard Frey of New Orleans as the third bishop of Lafayette in Louisiana. In 1980, Pope John Paul II erected the Diocese of Lake Charles, assigning the western half of the Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana to the new diocese. During his tenure, Frey launched the Social Apostolate, a social service agency designed "to put people in the pews in touch with the poor." He also encouraged every church in the diocese to establish a parish council. John Paul II appointed Reverend Harry Flynn from the Diocese of Albany as coadjutor bishop in 1989 to assist Frey. When Frey retired later that year, Flynn automatically became the new bishop.

1990 to the early 21st century
Flynn served in Lafayette in Louisiana until 1994, when John Paul II named him archbishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. To replace Flynn, the pope appointed Auxiliary Bishop Edward O'Donnell from the Archdiocese of St. Louis. One of O'Donnell's initiatives was to increase the number of African-Americans in diocesan affairs. He also instituted one of the first zero tolerance policies towards child sexual abuse by clergy in the nation. O'Donnell retired in 2002.

In 2002, John Paul II appointed Charles Jarrell of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Houma–Thibodaux as bishop of Lafayette in Louisiana. Jarrell retired in 2016.

The current bishop of Lafayette in Louisiana is J. Douglas Deshotel, formerly an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Dallas. He was appointed by Pope Francis in 2016.

Sex abuse controversies
In 1980, the diocese suspended Reverend Gilbert Gauthe from his pastoral position in the diocese. As early as 1972, three priest had confronted Gauthe about misconduct with boys. In 1974, Bishop Frey assigned Gauthe as a Boy Scout chaplain, even though Frey had heard allegations of Gauthe molesting altar boys. In 1976, he was sent away for therapy for seven months. By 1983, the diocese was receiving allegations of sexual misconduct from parents. The diocese by 1985 had settled nine lawsuits for $4.2 million.

The diocese in 1983 received a complaint from a family that Reverend Robert Fontenot had sexually abuse their child. He had previously been transferred out of other parishes due to complaints by priests that he was molesting children. The diocese in 1983 sent him to a House of Affirmation in the Boston area. The diocese reportedly paid $1 million in compensation to several of his victims. In 1986, Fortenot was arrested in Spokane, Washington, on charges of molesting boys at a drug treatment center. He was convicted and sentenced to one year in prison.

In October 1984, in a trial receiving national media coverage, Gauthe was charged with multiple counts of aggravated crimes against nature, committing sexually immoral acts with minors,  aggravated rape (sodomizing a boy under the age of 12) and crimes of pornography involving juveniles, through pornographic photo sessions. He pleaded guilty by reason of insanity. In October 1985, Gauthe accepted a plea bargain, pleading guilty to child pornography, crime against nature and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Criticized for his handling of Gauthe, Frey 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." 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 2008, the diocese paid a financial settlement to a former altar boy who claimed Reverend Valerie Pullman had sexually abused him in 1972. Pullman died in 2017 after being accused as early as 1966 of sexually abusing children at different parishes in the diocese.

In 2014, documents were released that accused Bishop Schexnayder of protecting priests in the diocese who had been accused of sexually abusing children. In a lawsuit, the diocese's insurance company "argued that the diocese knew for years, if not decades, that some of their priests had fondled and even raped children" and that "the molestations took place largely during the reigns of Bishops Maurice Schexnayder" and his successor, Bishop Frey".

In 2015, it was revealed that ten years previously, the diocese had paid a $26 million settlement to the families of 123 children who were sexually abused by diocese priests between 1959 and 2002. The Daily Advertiser urged the release of the priests' names, but Bishop Jarrell refused, saying that he could not see the point.

In October 2018, former priest David Broussard received a five-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography. Louisiana State Police found 500 images of child pornography on his computer during a search of his rectory in St. Bernard Church in Breaux Bridge.

In March 2019, Reverend Michael Guidry confessed to molesting Oliver Peyton, a 16-year-old boy. Peyton, the son of the church deacon, was abuse by Guidry at his residence in St. Landry Parish. In April 2019, Guidry pleaded guilty and received a seven-year prison sentence. In March 2024, bishop Deshotel excommunicated Peyton's father. In April 2019, the diocese released a list of 33 diocesan clergy who were "credibly accused" of committing acts of sex abuse.

Diocesan bishops

 * 1) Jules Jeanmard (1918-1956)
 * 2) Maurice Schexnayder (1956-1972)
 * 3) Gerard Louis Frey (1972-1989)
 * 4) Harry Joseph Flynn (1989-1994), appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis and subsequently succeeded as archbishop
 * 5) Edward Joseph O'Donnell (1994-2002)
 * 6) Charles Michael Jarrell (2002-2016)
 * 7) J. Douglas Deshotel (2016–present)

Former auxiliary bishops

 * Maurice Schexnayder (1951-1956), appointed bishop in Lafayette
 * Robert Emmet Tracy (1959-1961), appointed Bishop of Baton Rouge
 * Warren Louis Boudreaux (1962-1971), appointed Bishop of Beaumont, later Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux

Other diocesan priests who became bishops

 * Jude Speyrer, appointed Bishop of Lake Charles in 1980
 * Sam Joseph Galip Jacobs (priest in Lafayette, 1964–1980), appointed Bishop of Alexandria in 1989
 * Glen Provost, appointed Bishop of Lake Charles in 2007

High schools

 * Academy of the Sacred Heart – Grand Coteau
 * Catholic High School – New Iberia
 * Hanson Memorial High School – Franklin
 * Notre Dame High School – Crowley
 * Opelousas Catholic School – Opelousas
 * Sacred Heart High School – Ville Platte
 * St. Edmund High School – Eunice
 * St. Thomas More High Catholic 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