From staff reports
The Catholic Commentator
Blind and fiercely committed to his priesthood, Father Patrick J. Mascarella had more than a heightened sense of touch that helped him orientate himself in his physical surroundings, he knew how to touch other’s lives by offering Christ’s healing in their brokenness.
Father Mascarella poses for a portrait with his service dog Pace.
Father Mascarella passed away late Wednesday, Jan. 23 at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, where he was recovering from recent heart surgery. He was 77-years-old.
Father Mascarella was born on April 12, 1941 in Baton Rouge. He attended St. Joseph Seminary in St. Benedict and Notre Dame
By Richard Meek
The Catholic Commentator
Father Jerome LeDoux SVD, former columnist for The Catholic Commentator and who previously served as pastor at St. Paul the Apostle Church in Baton Rouge, died Jan. 7 in Lafayette following heart surgery. Father LeDoux was 88.
Father Jerome LeDoux SVD, is shown after speaking at the Louisiana Catholic Conference in 1990. Photo provided by the Archives Department | Diocese of Baton Rouge
Sister Mildred Guillot (formerly Sister Francis of Assisi) CSJ died at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center on Nov. 22 at age 92.
She was born in Natchitoches on October 17, 1926 to the late Leo and Norma Hill Guillot. She is survived by her sisters Betsy G. Roark and Mary Lee Guillot; her nephew Frank Roark of Orlando, Florida; and her nieces Rebecca Wall of Daytona, Holly Gordon of Orlando and Erin Rinker of Coco Beach, Florida.
Father Henry C. Vavasseur, 85, retired priest of the Diocese of Baton Rouge, died Oct. 26 at Ollie Steele Burden Manor Nursing Home in Baton Rouge. Father Vavasseur was born in Port Allen and attended Catholic High School in Baton Rouge; St. Joseph Seminary in St. Benedict; Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans; and, Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
He was ordained a priest in June 1958. His pastoral assignments included Holy Family Church in Port Allen; St. John the
Sister Vernola Ann Lyons FMOL died Thursday, Oct. 11, at Our Lady of The Lake Regional Medical Center.
Sister Vernola was born June 20, 1940 in Mire. She entered the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady order on Aug. 2, 1964 and made her Perpetual Profession on Feb. 10, 1973.
She obtained a bachelor’s degree in nursing from McNeese State University in May, 1964 and a master’s degree from the University of Santa Clara in June, 1984.
Father Henry C. Vavasseur, 85, retired priest of the Diocese of Baton Rouge, died Thursday, Oct. 26 at Ollie Steele Burden Manor Nursing Home in Baton Rouge. Father Vavasseur was born in Port Allen and attended Catholic High School in Baton Rouge; St. Joseph Seminary in St. Benedict; Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans; and, Catholic University of American in Washington, D.C.
He was ordained a priest in June 1958. His pastoral assignments included Holy Family
Brother A. Joseph Martin SJ died Dec. 4 in Grand Coteau after a long illness. He was 88 years old and a Jesuit for 63 years.
Remembered by his brother Jesuits for his kindness and intelligence, Brother Joseph’s life was celebrated in a Mass of Christian Burial on, Dec. 9 in the Main Chapel of St. Charles College in Grand Coteau. Burial was in the Jesuit Cemetery of St. Charles College immediately following the Funeral Mass.
Deacon Eugene Brady died Sunday, Oct. 22. He was 90 years old.
Deacon Brady was ordained July 13, 2002 at St. Joseph Cathedral by Bishop Robert W. Muench. He served as coordinator for nursing home ministry for the Diocese of Baton Rouge until his retirement in July 2013.
Visitation is scheduled Friday, Oct. 27 from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at St. George Church in Baton Rouge. Funeral Mass to follow at St George at 12:30 p.m. Burial will
Sister Therese St. Pierre CJS died Feb. 11 at the age of 84 at the Wichita Center of the Adorers of the Precious Blood in Wichita, Kansas.
Sister Therese was born in Lucy, Louisiana to the late Albin J. and Leila Hymel St. Pierre and was educated in public schools in St. John the Baptist Civil Parish.
She graduated from St. Joseph Academy in New Orleans and entered the Sisters of St. Joseph in New Orleans in 1948. She professed first vows
WASHINGTON (CNS) – While many tributes to former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo reference the impact of his 1984 keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention, for many Catholics, it was a different speech the same year that defined his political legacy.
Cuomo, who died Jan. 1 at age 82, served three terms as governor and was sought after as a possible candidate for president, though he never took the plunge.
Those two 1984 speeches may well have helped define both why
Laura Gatz Deavers, who served as editor of The Catholic Commentator for 30 years and was known for her commitment to her
Father Donald G. Bahlinger SJ, a native of Baton Rouge, died Saturday, Aug. 19
Deacon Albert Robinson Ellis Jr., of Baton Rouge, passed away Aug. 8, 2017, at home surrounded
Deacon Peter “Pete” B. Schlette Sr., passed away after a long illness at the age of 78.
Sister Ursula Harelson, Sister of St. Joseph for 71 years, passed away at St. Francis Hospital in Wichita, Kansas on Dec. 13 at the
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