History of Carville's Catholic Chapels
The first Catholic mass was celebrated in one
of the slave cabins original to Indian Camp
Plantation. Neither the State nor Federal government
appropriated funds for building houses of worship,
but two chapels were built through other means.
In 1907, Archbishop Blenk dedicated the second
Catholic Chapel for which money came mostly
from a fund drive held by the Daily Picayune
(now the Times Picayune) in New Orleans ($7,000).
Dr. Isadore Dyer (President of the Louisiana
Leper Board), though not a Catholic himself,
contributed $1,000. According to sister Benedicta,
the Leper Home Chapel Society of New Orleans
maintained it.
On June 8, 1934, Feast of the Sacred Heart,
His Excellency John W. Shaw, Archbishop of New
Orleans, dedicated the third and present chapel
made possible through the $35,000 gift of the
Catholic Church Extension Society under the
Presidency of Bishop William D. O'Brien, D.D.
The Sacred Heart Chapel has a Romanesque entrance.
The building was designed in Gothic revival
style. An aerial view of the chapel reveals
the shape of a cross.
List of Catholic Chaplains
Father Michael Colton 1896-97
Father J.F. Raymond (Pastor of St. Gabriel
Church) interim priest
Father O'Farrell April 1897 - ?
Father G.B. Durant July 1898
Father Emile Peufier March 1900 - interim priest
Father Joseph A.P. Fortier April 1900
Father Tracy April 1900
Father A.V. Keenan succeeded Father Tracy -
date unknown. First mention in a letter 1907
and left in 1922
In Residence Catholic Chaplains
Father Benedict Stetter, OSB 1922-27
Father Maur, OSB 1927-28
Father Gardner 1928-32
Rt. Rev. Abbot Paul Schaeuble, OSB 1932-48
Father Joseph Marie Coulombe 1948-50
Father Vath (March-April, 1950) interim priest
Father William Stein, CM (April-August, 1950)
interim priest
Father Berkowsky, CM (August-Sept, 1950) interim
priest
Father Edward L. Boudreaux Sept 1950-55
Abbot Francis Sadlier, OSB 1955-59
Father Alcuin Kammer, OFM 1959-61
Father Senan Kelly, OFM 1961-71
Father Jerome Kircher, OFM 1971-83
Father Reynolds Garland 1983-2003
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