The Diocese of Lake Charles (Latin: Dioecesis Lacus Carolini), is a diocese of the Catholic Church in southwestern Louisiana in the United States. It is a suffragan see of the metropolitan Archdiocese of New Orleans.

The diocese includes the civil parishes of Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, and Jefferson Davis. The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Lake Charles is its cathedral church, and Glen John Provost is the bishop.

History

1793 to 1980

During the latter part of the 18th century, when Louisiana was a Spanish colony, there were few Catholics and no churches for them in the Lake Charles area. Pope Pius VI in 1793 erected the Diocese of Louisiana and the Two Floridas, encompassing all of Spanish Louisiana.

France in 1800 gained control of Louisiana with the signing of the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso. However, three years later, the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte sold these colonies to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase. Louisiana was now part of the United States. In 1825, the Vatican renamed the Diocese of Louisiana and the Two Floridas as the Diocese of New Orleans.It was the predecessor of the Church of the Immaculate Conception. The Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word f<nowiki/>rom Galveston, Texas, opened St. Patrick's Hospital in Lake Charles in 1908.It is today Christus Ochsner St. Patrick Hospital.

Pope Benedict XV erected the Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana on January 11, 1918, with territory taken from the Archdiocese of New Orleans. The new diocese included the Lake Charles area for the next 62 years. The Church of the Immaculate Conception in Lake Charles was built in 1913. He named Jude Speyrer as the first bishop of Lake Charles. Speyrer designated the Church of the Immaculate Conception as the diocesan cathedral. Speyrer retired in 2000 after 20 years as bishop.

To replace Braxton. Pope Benedict XVI in 2007 appointed Glen Provost from the Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana. Hurricane Ike hit the diocese in 2008. Four churches that were still under restoration from Hurricane Rita were damaged again.

Sexual abuse

Police arrested Mark Broussard, a diocesan priest, in March 2012 on multiple charges of aggravated battery and sexual battery. He was accused of sexually abusing three boys as young as eight-years-old between 1986 and 1989 at Our Lady Queen of Heaven and St. Henry's Parishes in Lake Charles. Diocesan officials knew that he had had sexual contact with at least four other children, but never reported the crimes to law enforcement. Broussard left the priesthood in 1995.

Broussard was ultimately charged with ten counts of abuse. One of Broussard's victims sued the diocese in February 2013. Broussard was convicted in February 2016 of aggravated rape, molestation of a juvenile, and aggravated oral sexual battery. He was sentenced in March 2016 to 250 years in prison.In April 2019, the diocese released a list of 11 clergy with credible accusations of sexual abuse of minors.

Bishops

Bishops of Lake Charles

  1. Jude Speyrer (1980-2000)
  2. Edward Kenneth Braxton (2000-2005), appointed Bishop of Belleville
  3. Glen John Provost (2007–present)

Other diocesan priest who became a bishop

  • Sam Joseph Galip Jacobs, appointed Bishop of Alexandria in 1989
  • Robert P. Boxie III, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Washington in 2026

Schools

The Diocese of Lake Charles operates six schools, including one high school, St. Louis Catholic High School in Lake Charles.

References

  • Roman Catholic Diocese of Lake Charles Official Site