Vatican City  -- Fr. Augustus Tolton advanced along the path to sainthood, making the runaway slave-turned-priest one step closer to being the first black American saint.

I, The Most Reverend Glen John Provost, Bishop of Lake Charles, hereby announce the pastoral assignments for the Year Two thousand and Nineteen for the Diocese of Lake Charles, Louisiana:

LAKE CHARLES – A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated for Rev. Frederick F. “Fred” Russi, 78, a retired priest of the Diocese of Lake Charles, in Our Lady Queen of Heaven Catholic Church at 2 p.m. Thursday, May 30.  Father Russi, a native of Lafayette, died on Thursday, May 23, 2019.

LAKE CHARLES – Work continues on many and varied areas of the restoration of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception with artists from Conrad Schmitt Studios and stained glass specialists from Emil Frei & Associates doing beautiful work to bring the Cathedral back to a glory not seen in many years.

There is an ancient Latin hymn sung in the past on very solemn occasions in Catholic ceremonies whose refrain is as follows:  “Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands” (in Latin Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat).    The sentiment these words express are very much what Easter is all about.

On Thursday, April 11, Bishop Glen John Provost released a list of 12 clerics that have been credibly accused of of sexual misconduct with a minor in the Diocese of Lake Charles since its establishment in 1980.