Roman Catholic Diocese of Shreveport

The Diocese of Shreveport (Latin: Dioecesis Sreveportuensis in Louisiana) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church covering the parishes of northern Louisiana in the United States.

Diocese of Shreveport

Dioecesis Sreveportuensis in Louisiana
St. John Berchmans Cathedral
Coat of arms
Location
Country United States
TerritoryLouisiana 16 parishes of Louisiana
Ecclesiastical provinceArchdiocese of New Orleans
Statistics
Area28,825 km2 (11,129 sq mi)
Population
- Catholics
39,436 (5%)
Information
DenominationCatholic
Sui iuris churchLatin Church
RiteRoman Rite
EstablishedJune 16, 1986
CathedralCathedral of Saint John Berchmans
Patron saintImmaculate Conception
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
BishopFrancis I. Malone
Metropolitan ArchbishopGregory Michael Aymond
Archbishop of New Orleans
Map
Website
dioshpt.org

The Diocese of Shreveport is a suffragan diocese of the metropolitan Archdiocese of New Orleans.[1] Its mother church is the Cathedral of Saint John Berchmans, in Shreveport. The current bishop is Francis Malone.

Statistics

The Diocese of Shreveport covers an area of 28,825 square kilometres (11,129 sq mi).[1] The largest cities in the diocese are Shreveport, Monroe, Bossier City and Ruston.

As of 2010, the total population of the diocese was 784,665, out of which 39,436 (5 percent of the total population) were Catholic, served by 42 diocesan priests in 32 parishes, in 2004.[1][2]

History

1717 to 1800

The first Catholic missionary arrived in northwestern Louisiana from East Texas in 1717. The Franciscan priest Antonio Margil encountered Adaes Native Americans near present day Robeline, Louisiana. At the tribe's request, he constructed the Mission of San Miguel de Linares, the first Catholic church in the region. Margil then journeyed to Natchitoches to minister to the French Catholics population there.[3]

1800 to 1986

After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, all of present day Louisiana became part of the United States. At that time, the new State of Louisiana was part of the Diocese of Louisiana and the Two Floridas, with its see city as New Orleans. In 1825, the Vatican renamed this diocese as the Diocese of New Orleans. Shreveport was founded in 1836.

On July 29, 1853, Pope Pius IX erected the Diocese of Natchitoches, removing the Shreveport area and most of Louisiana from the Diocese of New Orleans. Father John Pierre, parish priest at Bayou Pierre in Louisiana, started visiting Shreveport in 1856. He later persuaded Natchitoches Bishop Augustus M. Martin to moved the Bayou Pierre parish to Shreveport, which happened later in 1856.[3] After working as a tutor to Protestant families for a year, Pierre built a wooden church in Shreveport. He completed a brick church in 1858. By 1869, Pierre estimated that there was a Catholic population of 1,000 in his parish.[3]

In 1910, Pope Pius X erected the Diocese of Alexandria, which included the Shreveport area. In 1976, Pope Paul VI renamed the Diocese of Alexandria to Diocese of Alexandria-Shreveport. The Church of St. John Berchmans in Shreveport became a co-cathedral in that city.

1986 to present

Pope John Paul II erected the Diocese of Shreveport on June 16, 1986, taking its present territory from the Diocese of Alexandria-Shreveport. He appointed Auxiliary Bishop William Benedict Friend as the first bishop of Shreveport. Friend designated the Cathedral of St. John Berchmans in Shreveport as the cathedral church of the new diocese. Friend retired in 2006.

The second bishop of Shreveport was Reverend Michael Duca from the Diocese of Dallas, appointed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2008. Pope Francis named him bishop of the Diocese of Baton Rouge in 2018.[4]

The current bishop of Shreveport is Francis Malone from the Diocese of Little Rock. He was named by Francis in 2019.[5][6]

Sexual abuse

A Tennessee man in 2010 filed a lawsuit against the Jesuit Order of New Orleans, claiming that he had been sexually assaulted by Donald Dickerson, a Jesuit priest assigned as assistant pastor to St. John Berchman's Parish in 1982.[7] After other sexual abuse accusations, Dickerson had been removed from the Jesuit Order in 1986 and eventually defrocked by the Vatican.[8]

The diocese reported in 2018 that it had received no allegation of sexual abuse for the time period back to its founding in 1986.[9] In 2020, the diocese was sued by a man who claimed it shielded a priest who sexually abused him as a child in the 1970's.[10]

Bishops
  1. William Benedict Friend (1986–2006)
  2. Michael Duca (2008–2018); appointed Bishop of Baton Rouge
  3. Francis Ignatius Malone (2020–present)

Coat of arms
Coat of arms of Roman Catholic Diocese of Shreveport
Notes
The coat of arms was designed and adopted when the diocese was erected
Adopted
1986
Escutcheon
The coat of arms of the Diocese of Shreveport is composed of a red field. On this red field - is a gold sunburst charged with the monogram of the Holy Name (IHS).
Symbolism
The coat of arms of the Diocese of Shreveport is composed of a red field to represent the Red River that runs through Shreveport On this red field is a gold sunburst charged with the monogram of the Holy Name (IHS), the symbol of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). This symbolism is employed here to represent Saint John Berchmans, titular of the Cathedral Church, who was a Jesuit. From the sunburst issue three wavy bars to represent the three rivers that run through the diocese--the Red, the Mississippi, and the Ouachita--and to represent the waters of baptism.

High schools

Media

The diocese publishes a monthly magazine, The Catholic Connection.[11]

References
  1. Cheney, David M. (26 Oct 2008). "Diocese of Shreveport". Catholic-Hierarchy. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  2. "Seminarians". Diocese of Shreveport. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  3. "Parish History". Holy Trinity Catholic Church. Retrieved 2023-04-06.
  4. Bishop Michael Duca appointed sixth bishop of Baton Rouge by Pope Francis The Advocate, June 26, 2018
  5. Pope Francis Appoints the Rev. Msgr. Francis Malone as Bishop of Shreveport, retrieved November 19, 2019
  6. "Arkansas priest to lead diocese in Shreveport". Retrieved November 19, 2019.
  7. "Lawsuit Alleges Sexual Abuse by Shreveport Priest, KTBS, November 11, 2010". www.bishop-accountability.org. Retrieved 2023-04-06.
  8. "Jesuit Dallas sued over alleged sex abuse by priest on list of 'credibly accused'". Dallas News. 2019-03-19. Retrieved 2023-04-06.
  9. KSLA Staff (2018-11-10). "Diocese of Shreveport: No sexual abuse allegations since inception". https://www.ksla.com. Retrieved 2023-04-06. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
  10. Enflinger, Emily (July 19, 2020). "Lawsuit against Diocese of Shreveport claims priest sexually abused boy in the '70s". Shreveport Times. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  11. Schnurr, Dennis Marion (July 2019). "Seek the Lord". The Catholic Telegraph. Vol. 188, no. 7. Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati. p. 2.

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