Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel will celebrate a special Mass in honor of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Diocese of Lafayette.
The Mass will be celebrated at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church, 300 Pere Magret Street in Abbeville.
This date commemorates the April 13, 1918 Decree given by the Apostolic Delegate to sub-delegate, Jules B. Jeanmard, Administrator of the Diocese of New Orleans, to carry out the announcement of the Decree of Erection of the Diocese of Lafayette. Shortly after, Jeanmard was appointed as the first Bishop of the new Diocese of Lafayette.
The Hispanic, Vietnamese and St. Mary Magdalen Choirs will perform at 6 p.m. with Mass to begin at 6:30 p.m.
Students of Mount Carmel School will line the walkway outside the church to welcome the procession. A reception will follow immediately afterwards in the Ministries Building, hosted by the Knights of Columbus and Catholic Daughters. A special invitation to attend is extended to all Catholics living in the West Deanery. The West Deanery of the Diocese of Lafayette consists of all Catholic church parishes in the civil parishes of Acadia and Vermilion. There are 30 Catholic church parishes in the West Deanery, and 11 mission chapels.
Live stream access of the Mass will be available by visiting our Diocesan website, www.diolaf.org, for those who are unable to attend in person.
The West Deanery churches, including parishes and missions, are located in Abbeville, Church Point, Cow Island, Crowley, Delcambre, Duson, Erath, Evangeline, Gueydan, Henry, Iota, Kaplan, Leroy, Lyons Point, Maurice, Mermentau, Mire, Morse, Mowata, Rayne, Richard, Roberts Cove, Branch, Egan, Esther, Estherwood, Haire, Lewisburg, Midland, Pecan Island, Petit Mamou and Savoy.
???????The geography of the West Deanery covers approximately 1,968 square miles and has a Catholic population estimated at 65,184 individuals.
