Jim Bradshaw
On Jan. 11, Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel visited St. Martin de Tours Church in St. Martinville, the oldest church in the Diocese of Lafayette, to say a special Mass.
It was the 100th anniversary of the official proclamation in 1918 by Pope Benedict XV that the part of the Diocese of New Orleans “which extends to the West across the Atchafalaya River” should be made into a separate Diocese of Lafayette, and that “the Cathedral Church of Lafayette and its Bishops [shall] possess and enjoy the same honors, insignia, favors, indults, graces, privileges and rights which the other Dioceses of North America and their Bishops possess and enjoy.”
That decree was sent to Bishop John Bonanzo, the Apostolic Delegate (Pope’s official representative) in the United States, who would normally send it to the Archbishop of New Orleans, since it was his diocese that was being divided. But Archbishop James Blenk died in April 1917 and his successor had not yet been appointed.
The official documents were sent instead to the chancellor of the New Orleans diocese, a young priest named Jules B. Jeanmard, who was acting as the interim administrator in New Orleans. When he traveled to Lafayette in May 1918 to preside over the official — and impressive — ceremonies required by custom and church law for diocesan formation.
According to the New Orleans diocesan newspaper: “With the ringing of bells, the reading of the Papal Decree, the solemn chanting of the Te Deum, and the joyous acclamation of thousands of local Catholics, the new See of Lafayette was canonically erected by the Very Rev. Jules B. Jeanmard on Thursday last.
“The day marked the most eventful period in the history of the Church of Attakapas. From the 13 civil parishes lying west of the Atchafalaya River and south of the 31st line of latitude, as far as the [Sabine] River … clergy and people poured into [Lafayette] in order to be in time for the grand and imposing ceremonies. … The whole city wore a gala aspect. Flags were flying in the breeze, friends … met and clasped hands … [as] once more the story of early days and struggles were reviewed, the names and deeds of priests and pastors who had labored long and faithfully … were recalled” and “the whole Catholic population united in joyous acclamation of … Pope Benedict XV, who, in his fatherly solicitude … had [given] this large and constantly growing section a Bishop of its very own.”
The new diocese was indeed large and growing. Nearly 50 church parishes were already established by 1918, in St. Martinville (1765), Opelousas (1776), Grand Coteau (1819), Lafayette (St. John 1821, St. Paul 1911), New Iberia (St. Peter 1838, St. Edward 1917), Charenton (1843), Breaux Bridge (1848), Abbeville (1851), Arnaudville (1853), Franklin, Washington, and Ville Platte (1854), Youngsville (1859), Lydia(1868), Chataignier and Lake Charles (1869), Rayne (1872), Loreauville (1873), Carencro (1874), Jeanerette (1879), Mermentau (1882), Broussard, Church Point and Roberts Cove (1883), Creole (1890), Cecilia (1891), Louisa, Jennings, Patterson, and Iota (1892), Maurice (1893), Port Barre (1894), Kaplan, Leonville, and Lebeau (1896), Crowley, Delcambre, and Henry (1897), Eunice (1902), Scott (1904), Mowata (1905), Baldwin (1906). Gueydan (1907), and Mamou and Welsh (1914).
There were almost no priests from Louisiana to serve in these parishes. Most of them were staffed by missionary priests either from France or from Holland, and that apparently caused a bit of friction while the clergy waited to find out who their new bishop would be.
Monsignor John Vigliero, the first chancellor in Lafayette recalled in his memoirs that the French clergy in Louisiana had pressed for a French bishop to replace Archbishop Blenk, but that the Dutch priests wouldn’t go along. When the Vatican announced that John Shaw, an Irishman, would become the new bishop in New Orleans, the intramural tussle focused on Lafayette. Father William J. Teurlings apparently spoke for the Dutch priests; Father J.M. Langlois spoke for the French.
According to Vigliero’s account, each of them wanted a bishop who, if not selected from among their group, would at least be sympathetic to them.
The Vatican settled things by naming Father Jeanmard, the Breaux Bridge native who’d first come to set up the diocese, as its first bishop. Jeanmard had no inkling that he was even being considered, and when Bonzano wrote to tell him he’d been chose, Jeanmard wrote back that he was “almost terrified” at the idea and that the Vatican should look for someone who was better qualified.
Bonzano wrote back, in effect, “Don’t worry. You’ll do just fine.”
The man who became characterized as “the gentle shepherd “was bishop from 1918 to 1956, and, true to Bonanzo’s predictions, did just fine. French priests said so, Dutch priests said so, and so did practically everyone else.
Contact Jim Bradshaw at jimbradshaw4321@gmail.com or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 70589.