Roman Catholic Diocese of Alexandria in Louisiana


The Roman Catholic Diocese of Alexandria is the Latin suffragan diocese for central Louisiana in the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans.
Its cathedral episcopal see is St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in Alexandria, Louisiana. It also has a former Cathedral and Minor Basilica: the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, in Natchitoches, Louisiana.

Statistics and extent

As per 2014, it pastorally served 42,929 Catholics on 27,810 km² in 50 parishes with 71 priests, 19 deacons, 43 lay religious and 10 seminarians.
It encompasses the civil parishes of Avoyelles, Rapides, Vernon, Natchitoches, Winn, Caldwell, Madison, Franklin, Tensas, Concordia, Cathoula, Lasalle and Grant.

History

The bishopric was established on August 6, 1910 as the Diocese of Alexandria, named after its new see Alexandria, Louisiana, on the territory of the suppressed Diocese of Natchitoches. The first Bishop of was Augustus Marie Martin.
On October 18, 1976, it was renamed the Diocese of Alexandria-Shreveport.
On June 16, 1986, when the northern Louisiana portion of the territory was separated to form the new Diocese of Shreveport, the diocese was again renamed the Diocese of Alexandria.

Reports of Sex Abuse

In February 2019, the Diocese of Alexandria released the names of 27 Catholic clergy who were accused of committing sex abuse while serving in the Diocese. Two clergy on this list were convicted while three others gave financial settlements to their victims. Three more names were added to this list in June 2019. In 2013, one accused priest, Reverend Frederick James Lyons, was sentenced to a life of prayer and penance and stripped of this title of protonotary apostolic supernumerary. The name of Fr. Theodore Lelieveld, who was accused of committing sex abuse while serving in the Diocese of Alexandria in the mid-1960s and died in 1976, was added to the list in September 2019 after sex abuse allegations against him were deemed credible.

Bishops

Bishops of Natchitoches

  1. Augustus Marie Martin
  2. Francis Xavier Leray, appointed Coadjutor Archbishop and later Archbishop of New Orleans
  3. Anthony Durier
  4. Cornelius Van de Ven

    Bishops of Alexandria

  5. Cornelius Van de Ven
  6. Daniel Francis Desmond
  7. Charles Pasquale Greco
  8. Lawrence Preston Joseph Graves

    Bishops of Alexandria-Shreveport

  9. Lawrence Preston Joseph Graves
  10. William Benedict Friend, appointed Bishop of Shreveport

    Bishops of Alexandria

  11. John C. Favalora, appointed Bishop of Saint Petersburg and later Archbishop of Miami
  12. Sam G. Jacobs, appointed Bishop of Houma–Thibodaux
  13. Ronald Paul Herzog
  14. David Talley
  15. Robert W. Marshall Bishop Elect, appointed April 21, 2020

    Coadjutor Bishops

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