Joining Bishop Olivier were the Bishops of the Diocese of Lake Charles, The Most Reverend Glen John Provost, and the Diocese of Lafayette, The Most Reverend Michael Jarrell. Other priests concelebrating were Msgr. Ronald Groth, pastor of Sacred Heart; Rev. Marcus Johnson, pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary; Rev. Joseph Angadiath, CMI; Rev. Jerome LeDoux, SVD (also a Sacred Heart and Lake Charles native), Rev. Emanuel Tanu, SVD, and Rev. August L. Thompson. Deacon Edward Lavine served Bishop Olivier.
Family and friends from Lake Charles and from far away attended the Mass, which is one of a number that Bishop Olivier will celebrate during his Diamond Jubilee of priestly service. Other dates include June 19 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC and June 26 at St. Patrick Catholic Church in downtown Washington, DC. The Bishop was ordained on June 29, 1951 as a priest of the Divine Word Missionaries, in Bay St. Louis, Miss.
The late Bishop Harold R. Perry, SVD, was also a product of Sacred Heart Church and school, being named the Auxiliary Bishop of New Orleans in 1965, serving there until his death in 1991. Bishop Perry also attended Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic and school. Bishop Perry was the first African-American Catholic Bishop of the 20th Century.
In his homily, Bishop Olivier, first asked his family to stand and they received a rousing round of applause. The Bishop then said, “I don’t think I could have done these sixty years without my family. I was always able to come back home and drink from that fountain of support, friendship, and their prayers. God has blessed me that I was able to come back, even though sometimes I was far away and couldn’t come back often. In later years I was able to come back more often.” In speaking about the importance of the day – Pentecost – the Bishop noted, “The Church celebrates (today) God sending his Holy Spirit to be with us and guide us. Remember that Jesus, several times toward the end of his life, promised that he would send us the Holy Spirit.
“With the sacrament he gave us, the Eucharist, he also gave us the priesthood,” Bishop Olivier said. “That is what we really celebrate today. It is true that it’s my 60th anniversary as a priest, but we are really celebrating the institution of the priest, the priesthood of all priests.”
