By Pamela Seal 
Diocese of Lake Charles

There is something extra special about Christmas Eve for Rene and Lucy (Leleux) Hanks of Starks. It is the day they were married in 1955, and to hear them tell the story, it was meant to be from the start. 

LAKE CHARLES — On Tuesday, May 13, St. Louis Catholic High School awarded degrees to the Class of 2025 during a commencement ceremony in the Burton Coliseum Complex.

The Very Reverend Ruben J. Buller, VG, Rector of St. Louis and Pastor of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, presented remarks while the Most Reverend Glen John Provost, Bishop of Lake Charles, gave the Benediction for 132 graduates.

LAKE CHARLES — The Diocese of Lake Charles is pleased to announce Mrs. Pamela Seal has been named Director of Communications, effective May 31, 2025. She will succeed longtime director Morris LeBleu who has dedicated more than 38 years of service under three bishops. He will retire on May 30.

By Pamela Seal 
Diocese of Lake Charles

LAKE CHARLES –– Surprised. Overjoyed. Excited. Thrilled. These are just a few words that come to mind for Catholics in the Diocese of Lake Charles when they learned that United States native Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was chosen as the 267^th pope to lead the universal Church. 

By Catholic News Agency

VATICAN CITY — Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost has been elected as the 267th pope of the Catholic Church, taking the name Pope Leo XIV.

White smoke rose from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel at 6:09 p.m. Rome time on Thursday, May 8, 2025, signaling that the College of Cardinals had chosen a successor to Pope Francis, who died on April 21.