BishopAccountability.org

BASILE NATIVE APPOINTED AS NEW BISHOP OF THE DIOCESE OF LAFAYETTE

By Raymond Partsch Iii
Evangeline Today
February 17, 2016

http://www.villeplattetoday.com/local/basile-native-appointed-new-bishop-diocese-lafayette

Rev. J. Douglas Deshotel has been appointed as the new Bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette.

For the first time in its 98-year history, a native of Evangeline Parish will serve as Bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette.
Rev. J. Douglas Deshotel, a native of Basile, was appointed Wednesday morning to serve as the seventh Bishop of Diocese of Lafayette, replacing Rev. Michael Jarrell. Deshotel had spent the past 37 years with the Diocese of Dallas.
“It is just a wonderful thing to be here this morning,” Deshotel said. “I would like to thank Pope Francis for his trust and his desire to send me here. I am very humbled and very honored to do so.”
Deshotel was born on Jan. 6, 1952 in Basile and would go on to attend Immaculata Minor Seminary High School in Lafayette. After graduation, Deshotel would attend Holy Trinity Seminary in Texas, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and then a Masters of Divinity from the University of Dallas.
Deshotel was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Dallas on May 13, 1978 in his hometown church of St. Augustine’s in Basile. Deshotel was later ordained as Auxiliary Bishop of Dallas on April 27, 2010 in the Cathedral Shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Guadalupe.
Deshotel’s assignments have included serving as associate pastor and pastor of church parishes in the Diocese of Dallas, as well as serving as Vice Rector of Holy Trinity Seminary in Irving, Texas.
The mood was light during Wednesday’s news conference, held at the Immaculate Center in Lafayette, as Deshotel told more than a few jokes that drew laughter from the audience.
“Even though I have been away from the Diocese for 40 years I have kept in contact with the Diocese,” Deshotel said. “I come four times a year to stock up on sausage, tasso and roux. You know everything you need to lead a healthy life.”
Deshotel later added, “I want to thank Bishop Jarrell for his hospitality to me. You will notice that he will be smiling a lot more the next few weeks.”
Jarrell had a little fun as well as the former pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Ville Platte stepped to the microphone and asked, “The question that everyone wants to know is are you Cajun?”
Deshotel answered, “I can take my shoes off and show you that I have webbed feet,” which generated laughter from the crowd.
Deshotel also talked about playing basketball and watching movies in the school’s gym back when he was a student, the rich Catholic culture he was exposed to growing up with his parents and French-speaking grandparents, as well as reflecting on the how the increased number of Hispanic and Vietnamese Catholics in the Diocese is a “sign of the universal church.”
Deshotel becomes the seventh bishop for the Diocese of Lafayette following Jarrell (2002-2016), Edward J. O’Donnell (1994-2002), Harry J. Flynn (1989-1994), Gerard L. Frey (1972-1989), Maurice Schexnayder (1956-1972) and Jules B. Jeanmard (1918-1956).
The Diocese of Lafayette currently consists of 121 church parishes and serves a Catholic population of 291,991.




.


Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.