WASHINGTON — Pope Francis has named Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel, 64, as bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette, Louisiana, and accepted the resignation of Bishop C. Michael Jarrell, 75, from pastoral governance of that diocese. Bishop Deshotel has served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Dallas since 2010.
The appointment was publicized in Washington, February 17, by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, apostolic nuncio to the United States. Bishop Deshotel will be installed as the seventh Bishop of Lafayette at 2 p.m. on Friday, April 15 in the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Lafayette.
Bishop Deshotel was born in Basile, Louisiana on January 6, 1952. He attended the University of Dallas, where he earned Bachelor of Arts degree. He entered Holy Trinity Seminary in Irving in 1972 and completed his seminary studies in 1978. That same year he obtained his Masters in Divinity degree at the University of Dallas. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 13, 1978.
Assignments after ordination included parochial vicar, St. Patrick Parish, Dallas, 1978-1980; parochial vicar, St. Anthony Parish, Longview, Texas, 1980-1982; parochial vicar, St. Elizabeth of Hungary Parish, 1982-1983; parochial vicar, St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, Longview, 1983-1988; pastor, St. William Parish, Greenville, Texas, 1988-1992; pastor, St. John Nepomucene Parish, Ennis, Texas, 1992-1995; and pastor, St. Luke Parish, Irving, Texas, 1995-2001.
He also served as vice-rector, Holy Trinity Seminary, Irving, 2001-2005; pastor, St. Monica and St. Juan Diego Parish, Dallas, 2006-2008; pastor, St. Joseph Parish, Richardson, Texas, 2008-2012; and vicar general and moderator of the curia, 2008-present. Other responsibilities include the diocesan prebyteral council, priest’s personnel board and diocesan review board. Pope Benedict XVI appointed him an auxiliary bishop of Dallas on March 11, 2010. He was ordained a bishop April 27 of that year.
Charles Michael Jarrell was born May 15, 1940 in Opelousas, Louisiana, and ordained a priest of Lafayette, Louisiana, on June 3, 1967. Pope John Paul II named him bishop of Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana, on December 29, 1992. He was ordained a bishop March 4, 1993. He has served as bishop of Lafayette since 2002.
The Diocese of Lafayette comprises 5,777 square miles in the State of Louisiana. It has a total population of 602,334 people, of who 273,428, or 45 percent, are Catholic.
