Louisiana Archives

A religious procession of boats down a Louisiana bayou
- Associated Press, Church in the US
- August 12, 2017
“This is not the blessing of a priest, not the blessing of a mama for her children, not the blessing of the church,” Father Michael Champagne, the organizer of the procession, said. “It’s Jesus himself who is present in the consecrated host that is lifted over the people to bless them.”
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Edwards to pay for trip to Rome, state to pay for bodyguards
- Associated Press
- January 15, 2017
Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards and his wife are taking a trip to Rome, but it is not a tourist adventure, and the state is not paying for their part of the travel. Instead Edwards is going with other lawmakers to meet with an order of nuns working to combat human trafficking. They say it is worth the expense to the state of the police body guards who will travel with the governor.
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400-year-old heart of Catholic saint arrives in Louisiana
- Associated Press, Church in the US
- December 11, 2016
Saint John Berchmans was a 17th century Jesuit scholastic in Belgium, and is considered the patron saint of altar servers.
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Court holds priests not required to violate sanctity of confessional

Louisiana’s Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s law on reporting child abuse, which requires health workers, teachers, clergy and others to report evidence of child abuse to authorities, does not oblige priests to violate the sanctity of a sacramental confession.

Healing racial divides starts with dialogue, black bishops say

Bishop John H. Ricard of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida, who grew up in segregated Baton Rouge, Louisiana and is now president of the National Black Catholic Congress, says the recent wave of American violence is a “wake-up call for all of us, a jolt,” that “we’ve got a lot of work to do” to combat racism.

Bishop feels ‘deep ache’ after fatal shootings of police

“Words cannot express the emotions we feel for those who have lost loved ones in the tragic events of this day,” Baton Rouge Bishop Bobert W. Muench said after the latest fatal police shootings in the city. “Their entire lives have been unexpectedly and terribly turned upside down.”