About Us - Diocese of Lake Charles

1982: The publication of the first issue of the Catholic Calendar appeared in the Lake Charles American Press on September 18. The publication is in its 42nd year.
1983: Bishop Speyrer blessed St. Jude Chapel, the first new chapel in the Diocese, on October 27, 1983, in Dry Creek. Later that year, St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Fenton (East Deanery) became the first new parish established in the Diocese.
1985: On April 21, the offices of the Bishop, Vicar General, Chancellor and Tribunal moved into permanent quarters at the former home of Calcasieu Council 1207 Knights of Columbus and Lady of the Lake Court 695, Catholic Daughters of the Americas building at 414 Iris Street. The building was donated to the Diocese of Lake Charles and dedicated by the Most Reverend (later Cardinal) Pio Laghi, Apostolic Pro-Nuncio. He later died in Rome on January 11, 2009. The Chancery Building was severely damaged by Hurricane Laura on August 27, 2024.
1987: The Seafarers Center at the Port of Lake Charles was dedicated on January 15. Later in the month, the first edition of the Southwest Catholic, the diocesan newspaper, was published. Hurricane Rita in 2005 would cease publication of the Southwest Catholic.
1988: In July, the Reverend Sam G. Jacobs, a priest for the Diocese of Lake Charles, was appointed the 10th Bishop of the Diocese of Alexandria.
1995: The Apostolic Pro-Nuncio, Archbishop Agostino Caccivillain, dedicates Saint Charles Center on November 5, 1995.
1997: The Diocese announces its presence on the World Wide Web: www.lcdiocese.org
2002: Two new parishes for the Diocese of Lake Charles — Christ the King and St. Martin de Porres, were established by Episcopal Decree on September 30, 2002.
2005: On September 24, Hurricane Rita, a Category 3 storm, devastated lower Cameron Parish with 100-plus miles per hour winds and a more than 15-foot storm surge. The parishes of St. Peter the Apostle in Hackberry, Our Lady Star of the Sea in Cameron, Sacred Heart of Jesus in Creole and St. Eugene in Grand Chenier, were nearly wiped out. St. Mary of the Lake in Big Lake was inundated with nearly two feet of floodwaters. The mission chapels of Holy Trinity in Holly Beach, Immaculate Conception in Grand Chenier, and St. Rose of Lima in Creole were destroyed, with the debris carried away by the wind and water. Our Lady of the Assumption Chapel in Johnson Bayou, the closest church to the spot where the eye of the storm made landfall, was damaged but was back in operation by Easter 2006.

St. Patrick Chapel in Sweetlake, a mission of St. Mary of the Lake, became the hub for parishioners of the three parishes in lower Cameron Parish.

Every church parish in the Diocese was damaged to some extent by the storm, some more than others, but all began work as soon as possible to make repairs, reopen and more importantly, to care for those people who came to their doors for help.

The Catholic schools of the Diocese also sustained damage, particularly Sacred Heart of Jesus / Saint Katharine Drexel.

The generosity of Catholic Charities USA with grants totaling more than $3 million as well as contributions from individuals, organizations and dioceses around the country, along with volunteers from all over the United States made it possible for the area to bounce back to a new “normal.”
2007: Bishop-elect Glen John Provost was ordained a Bishop on April 23, in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and installed as the Third Bishop of the Diocese of Lake Charles. On April 23, Bishop Provost confirmed Deacon George Stearns in the office of Chancellor, who remained in that role until his retirement on February 29, 2024.
Bishop Provost wrote his first pastoral letter to the faithful of the Diocese of Lake Charles on August 4, the Feast of St. John Vianney, asking them to join him in a year of prayer specifically for vocations to the priesthood in the Diocese. He also instituted a program among the parishes of the Diocese of 40 Hours of Devotion before the Blessed Sacrament to promote vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Each month churches in a specific deanery hold 40 hours of adoration, a devotion that continues today.
2008: Less than three years after Hurricane Rita severely damaged the Catholic churches in Cameron Parish, Hurricane Ike provided more of the same as it made its landfall in Southeast Texas. The September 13th storm destroyed the Chapel of the Assumption in Johnson Bayou, which had escaped with easily repairable damaged following Hurricane Rita. Restoration work, which had been done to the churches of St. Eugene in Grand Chenier, Our Lady Star of the Sea in Cameron, Sacred Heart of Jesus in Creole, and St. Mary of the Lake in Big Lake, was devastated. Work began very quickly on restoring the damaged facilities.
2009: On January 31, Bishop Provost celebrated Mass with the people of St. Eugene in Grand Chenier following the completion of the second restoration of their church in three years. The church of St. Mary of the Lake in Big Lake was also completed, and work was nearly complete at Our Lady Star of the Sea in Cameron and was within a few months of completion at Sacred Heart of Jesus in Creole.
2010: The groundbreaking for St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church, the first new Catholic church in the Diocese’s 30-year history, took place on September 27 at the site off Elliott Road. St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church was established as a canonical parish in 2002. Father Keith Pellerin, the parish’s founding pastor, served as master of ceremonies for the groundbreaking.
2014: St. Pius X Catholic Church in Ragley was established by Episcopal Decree on August 21, 2014, as the 39th canonical parish in the Diocese of Lake Charles.
2015: Return to the Lord capital campaign was launched in October as a landmark effort to raise $16 million for the Priest Retirement Fund, Seminary Education Fund, Restoration of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Catholic Charities of Southwest Louisiana, and the construction of Camp Karol of Saint Charles Center. By December 31, 2016, the pledged amount was more than $5 million above the original goal.
2016: The donation of 89 acres of property located in Moss Bluff, along with related assets, to the Diocese of Lake Charles made it possible to provide Saint Charles Center with Camp Karol, a Catholic youth camp. Construction was made possible by financial contributions made to the Return to the Lord capital campaign that began in October 2015. Groundbreaking for “The Lodge” was held on October 22, 2017, and Camp Karol Catholic Retreat Center was dedicated on October 23, 2021.
2019: Rite of Dedication celebrated for the newly restored Cathedral on August 31. The anniversary of the re-dedication is celebrated annually with the rank of Solemnity in the Cathedral and the rank of Feast in the other churches of the Diocese of Lake Charles.
2020: The entire five-parish region of the Diocese of Lake Charles impacted by back-to-back devastating hurricanes ( Laura on August 27 and Delta on October 9 ).
2021: Various structures in the Diocese suffer more damage from a multiple-day hard freeze in February and later flash flooding in May.
2022: Catholic Medical Guild formed in the Diocese of Lake Charles on December 6. The official name is St. Luke’s Guild of Southwest Louisiana.
2023: Effective July 1, the Diocese of Lake Charles consolidated its chancery offices at 1201 Ryan Street, Lake Charles. It marked the first time since the establishment of the Diocese in 1980 that a building was large enough to create a centralized administrative office and ministries space.

Bishop Jude Speyrer

Bishop Jude Speyrer laid the foundation for the Diocese and created the infrastructure. He was appointed the first bishop of Lake Charles by Pope John Paul II on January 29, 1980. He was ordained and installed Bishop of Lake Charles on April 25, 1980. He retired on December 12, 2000, serving as Administrator for the Diocese of Lake Charles December 13, 2000, to February 21, 2001. Bishop Speyrer died on July 21, 2013, in Opelousas, La., and is interred in New Bethany Cemetery on the grounds of Saint Charles Center in Moss Bluff.

Bishop Edward K. Braxton

On December 12, 2000, Pope John Paul II appointed the Most Reverend Edward K. Braxton, Auxiliary Bishop of St. Louis, as second bishop of Lake Charles. His installation took place on February 22, 2001, in Our Lady Queen of Heaven Catholic Church.

Bishop Braxton was named the Bishop of Belleville, Illinois, on March 15, 2005. He was installed as the eighth Bishop of Belleville on June 22, 2005. On June 24, the College of Consultors of the Diocese of Lake Charles elected Monsignor Harry Greig as the Diocesan Administrator to serve until a new Bishop was seated.

Bishop Glen John Provost

His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI appointed the Most Reverend Glen John Provost as third bishop of Lake Charles on March 6, 2007. He was ordained to the Episcopacy and installed on April 23, 2007, in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Bishop Provost was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Lafayette by Pope Paul VI on June 29, 1975, in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Several endeavors of particular importance to Bishop Provost over his Episcopacy include his dedication to Catholic schools, his devotion to increasing vocations to the priesthood with “40 Hours Devotion” in each church parish; the restoration of the historic Cathedral, the construction of Camp Karol Catholic Youth Camp; and expanding the work of Catholic Charities of Southwest Louisiana throughout the five civil parishes in the Diocese of Lake Charles.

The Diocese of Lake Charles, the sixth Catholic Diocese in Louisiana, was established by Pope John Paul II on January 29, 1980. The Most Reverend Jude Speyrer was appointed the first Bishop with his ordination and installation held April 25, 1980, in the Lake Charles Civic Center Coliseum in downtown Lake Charles.

The first priest ordained for the Diocese of Lake Charles was the Reverend Whitney Miller on June 6, 1980. A few months later, on September 8, the first class of deacons was ordained, and on September 9, St. Peter Claver was proclaimed the patron saint for the Diocese of Lake Charles. His feast is observed on the Sunday nearest to the actual feast day (September 9), allowing more of the faithful to participate.

The ecclesiastical administration of the five civil parishes of Southwest Louisiana — Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, and Jefferson Davis — has been under the Diocese of Quebec, 1699-1762; the Diocese of Santiago de Cuba, 1762-1780; the Diocese of Havana, 1780-1793; the Diocese of Louisiana and East and West Florida; 1793-1803; the Diocese of Baltimore, 1803-1815; the Diocese of Louisiana, 1815-1826; the Diocese of New Orleans, 1826-1918; the Diocese of Lafayette, 1918-1980; and since 1980, the Diocese of Lake Charles.

The Diocese of Lake Charles continues its recovery from the catastrophic storms of Hurricane Laura and Hurricane Delta in 2020. The entire five-parish region was devastated by Laura’s wrath of destruction as the Category 4 storm made landfall along the Gulf Coast in the early morning hours of August 27. Laura was the most powerful storm to ever strike Southwest Louisiana surpassing the devastation of Hurricane Rita in 2005 and even Hurricane Audrey in 1957. Six weeks later October 9, Hurricane Delta (a Category 2 storm) added insult to injury to the severely damaged diocese.

Of the 39 church parishes at that time, at least six suffered destruction, while at least a dozen other churches were highly compromised. A total of 72 Diocese of Lake Charles project sites were impacted by Laura. More than 500 structures in the DOLC — including churches, schools, rectories, administrative and ancillary buildings — were affected with an estimated $150 million in total damages.

A decision was made to amalgamate Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Cameron, St. Eugene Catholic Church in Grand Chenier, and Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Creole and relocate to Sweetlake given the elevation of the property. In the meantime, Sacred Heart of Jesus in Creole is using its Parish Life Center for Masses.

There are four deaneries in the Diocese consisting of 37 church parishes with approximately 25,060 registered families. The diocese itself comprises 5,619 square miles in the state of Louisiana. It has a total population of 302,006 of which 90,980 are Catholic.

North Central Deanery: Lake Charles, Iowa and Moss Bluff — includes seven churches in a portion of the civil parish of Calcasieu

South Central Deanery: Lake Charles, Bell City, Big Lake and Creole — includes seven churches in the civil parishes of Calcasieu and Cameron

West Deanery: Sulphur, Carlyss, DeQuincy, DeRidder, Hackberry, Maplewood, Ragley, Vinton and Westlake — includes 10 churches in the civil parishes of Beauregard, Calcasieu, and Cameron

East Deanery: Jennings, Elton, Fenton, Kinder, Lake Arthur, Oakdale, Oberlin, Raymond and Welsh — includes 13 churches in the civil parishes of Allen and Jefferson Davis

Schools:
There are six Catholic schools in the diocese, Saint Louis Catholic being the lone Catholic high school and located in Lake Charles. The five feeder schools are Immaculate Conception Cathedral School, St. Margaret of Scotland Catholic School, and Our Lady Queen of Heaven Catholic School, all in Lake Charles; Our Lady’s Catholic School in Sulphur; and Our Lady Immaculate Catholic School in Jennings. Approximate total enrollment for the 2024-2025 school year is 2,274 students.