Information and Announcements About The Diocese
LAKE CHARLES — Bishop Glen. John Provost was the celebrant for the annual Red Mass on Friday, September 10, in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. He was joined by the Very Rev. Edward Richard, M.S., V.F., who served as homilist, and Rev. Samuel Bond, who assisted as Master of Ceremonies.
By Pamela Seal
Diocese of Lake Charles
SULPHUR — Our Lady of LaSalette Catholic Church will celebrate a trio of special occasions Sept. 18-26 as it marks the Diamond Jubilee of its parish, the Sacerdotal Diamond Jubilee of Rev. Lawrence Kohler, M.S.; and the 175th anniversary of Our Lady’s Apparition at LaSalette in France.
Read more: Our Lady of LaSalette Celebrates 60 Years as Parish
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Diocese of Lake Charles
The International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima was welcomed with plenty of praying hands during a tour to eight church parishes in the Diocese of Lake Charles Aug. 13-18.
Read more: World-famous Statue Brings Fatima Message to Diocese
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Diocese of Lake Charles
As the saying goes: One good deed deserves another, especially when it comes to disaster relief between two dioceses affected by Category 4 hurricanes one year apart.
Read more: Bond of Charity Shared Between Dioceses Affected by Hurricanes
By Pamela Seal
Diocese of Lake Charles
On September 7, 1921, the first meeting of the Legion of Mary — an organization of Catholic laity — took place in Dublin, Ireland. Today, the apostolic association founded by Frank Duff nearly 100 years ago has spread to 170 countries with six million members, many of whom are active in the Diocese of Lake Charles. The Legion draws its inspiration from St. Louis Marie de Montfort’s book True Devotion to Mary.
The 41st annual Bishop’s Services Appeal, a fundraising campaign to assist in the operation of various ministries and programs of the Diocese of Lake Charles, kicked off the weekend of Sept. 11-12 in church parishes throughout the diocese.
Read more: Bishop’s Services Appeal Begins 2021-'22 Campaign
August 2021
Due to the recent COVID-19 surge and the desire to return to schools for in-person instruction, the Office of Catholic Schools has carefully considered the safety protocols recommended by our local and state leaders, the Louisiana Department of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, and the Louisiana Department of Education. In order to provide a safe environment for our students, staff and families, the following guidelines will be in place for all schools:
Bishop Provost has issued the following statement:
Read more: Bishop’s Statement on Vaccines and Health Measures
Catholic Charities of Southwest Louisiana announces its food distribution schedule for the month of August. For more information, visit www.catholicharitiesswla.com or call 337-439-7436.
Read more: Catholic Charities: Food Distribution Sites in August
Pope Francis, along with six cardinals and archbishops from North, South, and Central America, makes a powerful appeal in an Ad Council campaign reminding people that COVID-19 vaccines are safe, effective and an “act of love.”
Released on Wednesday, August 18, the public service announcement video, “It’s Up To You,” is delivered in English, Spanish and Portuguese with hopes of inspiring confidence in the vaccines to a global audience.
“Thanks to God’s grace and to the work of many, we now have vaccines to protect us from COVID-19,” Pope Francis says in the PSA. “Getting the vaccines that are authorized by the respective authorities is an act of love.”
To reach this global audience as part of their broader “It’s Up To You” campaign, the Ad Council and COVID Collaborative partnered on this PSA with His Holiness Pope Francis, Bishop of Rome; Archbishop José Horacio Gómez Velasco (Los Angeles, CA, USA), Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes (Mexico City, Mexico), Cardinal Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga (Tegucigalpa, Honduras), Cardinal Cláudio Hummes (Sao Paolo, Brasil), Cardinal Gregorio Rosa Chávez (San Salvador, El Salvador) and Archbishop Héctor Miguel Cabrejos Vidarte (Trujillo, Perú).
“The role of trusted messengers to educate and inspire their networks is undeniable — and has been a core element of our COVID-19 Vaccine Education Initiative since the beginning,” said Lisa Sherman, president and CEO of the Ad Council. “To the world’s billion-plus Catholics, the Pope is one of the most trusted messengers and holds unparalleled influence. We are extremely grateful to him and the cardinals and archbishops for lending their voices and platforms to help people across the globe feel more confident in the vaccines.”
Watch the PSA featuring Pope Francis here.
For more information and answers to top questions about the COVID-19 vaccines, visit GetVaccineAnswers.org and DeTiDepende.org.
By Pamela Seal
Diocese of Lake Charles
LAKE CHARLES — A Baptist minister jailed for his pro-life witness; a wife and mother of seven defending marriage, family, and life across the globe; and an author who publishes widely on the rights of children were all honored on July 16 for their efforts to promote family values.
The fourth annual Ruth Institute’s awards dinner was part of a two-day Summit for Survivors of the Sexual Revolution held July 16-17 at Treasures of Marilyn’s. The theme for this year’s conference was “Reclaiming the Professions for Life and Family.”
This year’s recipient of the Witness of the Year Award is Rev. Walter B. Hoye II, an Oakland, Calif., pastor who is the subject of the Ignatius Press book, “Black and Pro-Life in America.” He shared his story of being jailed for 30 days for his pro-life witness outside an abortion clinic in Oakland in 2009. The reason for his imprisonment: standing on a public sidewalk with a sign saying, “God loves you and your baby. Let us help you.”
“Harassment within 100 feet of an abortion clinic includes holding a sign, having a conversation, and passing out literature,” Hoye explained. “Because my viewpoint is pro-life, and I was there to help the men and women going into the clinic and present them with alternatives to killing their baby, I was sentenced to 30 days in jail.”
The first person to visit Rev. Hoye in jail was Oakland Bishop Salvatore Cordileone, who is now Archbishop of San Francisco. Through their visit, Hoye said he learned about the difficulty of Cordileone’s work in Oakland at the time.
“He asked me what it was like to do what I do,” said Hoye. “It turns out that we have so much in common. Even to this day, he and I work together and will continue to do so for the rest of our lives.”
Rev. Hoye said the number one issue facing Black America today is irreversibility.
“Three years after Roe v. Wade (1973), the total fertility rate for black women fell to 2.3, down from 7.9 in the 1850s. In 2019, the number of children per black woman was only 1.7, well below the necessary replacement value of 2.1. Our numbers are clearly going in the wrong direction. We are getting to the point where Black America will be facing irreversibility by the year 2050.”
That is why Hoye, founder of the Issues4Life Foundation, has dedicated his life to educating Black leaders about the evil of abortion.
“Our theme for the Issues4Life Foundation is simple: without life, nothing matters. You can have a family waiting on you. You can have a job waiting on you. You can have an education waiting on you. You can have a just society waiting on you. But if you can’t get out of the womb, nothing matters,” he said.
Receiving the Activist of the Year Award was Sharon Slater, president of the Family Watch International and chair of the UN Family Rights Caucus. She and her husband live in Arizona and have seven children, three of whom are siblings adopted from Mozambique.
Slater helped create a website called Stop CSE (www.comprehensivesexualityeducation.org) that includes extensive amount of information state by state. The website was created to warn parents and policy makers of the serous harms of explicit comprehensive sexuality education programs. It is a joint effort of Family Watch International, the UN Family Rights Caucus, the Stop the Kinsey Institute coalition and concerned parents worldwide.
“If you click on your state on the map, you will get a state profile with a list of laws related to sex education, parental rights, obscenity laws, anything that could relate to sex education,” said Slater. “It will also show you the federally funded programs that your state received money for or organizations in your state to implement the radical comprehensive sexuality education. It is a one-stop shopping for everything you need to know. It’s also part of our Protect Child Help Coalition way of gathering people to fight this fight in the various states.”
Slater also serves on the board of directors of No Left Turn in Education on the board of the Political Network for Values, a resource for legislators and politicians across the globe defending human life, marriage, family, religious freedom, and conscience.
The Book of the Year Award was presented to Katy Faust of Seattle, Wash., for her book, “Them Before Us: Why We Need a Global Children’s Rights Movement.” She is the founder and director of the children’s rights organization, Them Before Us. Faust is also a regular contributor at The Federalist.
Raised by her mother who has been in a relationship with another woman since Faust was 10 years old, she said she became involved with children’s rights when the gay marriage rights debate came to Seattle in 2012.
“We never had stories from the kids who have lived through all of these modern families,” Faust said. “Once you hear those stories, in almost every area of marriage and family, we are asking for kids to sacrifice their fundamental rights — to be known and loved by their mom and dad — for the sake of adult desires. It is global. It is not limited to one state or one country.”
Noting that her mother is one of the most important people in her life, Faust stressed that every issue about marriage and family is obsessively focused on adult desires, longing, losses, and always to the detriment of the rights of children.
“We need to put them, children, before us, the adults,” she said. “In this world of children’s rights, nobody gets a pass.”
Faust, who is married and the mother of four children, the youngest of whom is adopted from China, said her book evolved by accident. “I started anonymously writing a blog opposed to gay marriage because I knew what the other side would do to me if they knew how I felt,” she said. “Them Before Us” provides child-centric answers to questions about marriage, family, parenthood, surrogacy, adoption, reproductive technologies, divorce, same-sex parenting, cohabitation, polygamy and more.
Live-streaming and online programs during the Summit were available on topics including: Confronting the Corruption of the Professions; Reclaiming the Therapeutic Professions; Resisting the Corruption of Education; Defending the Body; Equipping the Pro-life Movement to Confront Trans-minded clients; and Surviving the Sexual Revolution.
The Ruth Institute was founded by Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse in San Diego in 2008. The non-profit organization has since relocated to Lake Charles in 2015. The Institute provides decades of research and educational tools to support individuals and families harmed by divorce, the hook-up culture, and other forms of family breakdown. For more information, visit www.ruthinstitute.org.