Five Louisiana Priests Who Died in 1873 Pandemic Considered for Sainthood

After Father Peter Mangum anointed a 98-year-old woman who had COVID-19, he couldn’t help but think of five French priests who sacrificed their lives to care for the sick through a yellow fever epidemic in the late nineteenth century. The Shreveport priest then thought of Fathers Jean Pierre, Narcisse Le Biler, François Le Vézouët, Isidore Quémerias and Louis Marie Gergaud – the French priests who came to Louisiana during the 1873 yellow fever epidemic.

Colorado, Louisiana Voters to Decide on Abortion Measures Nov. 3

Abortion is on the ballot in two states Nov. 3: Colorado and Louisiana. In Colorado, Proposition 115 would ban abortion beginning at 22 weeks of pregnancy. The measure includes exceptions to save the life of the pregnant woman but not for instances of rape or incest.

Hurricane Delta Deals Fresh Blow to Hard-Hit Louisiana Dioceses

In Lake Charles, one of the hardest-hit areas, churches and schools that had been damaged by Hurricane Laura in late August took a fresh beating. More than half of the diocese’s 39 churches had tarps on their roofs after Laura, according to Father Ruben Buller, vicar general, and most of those tarps blew off during Delta, soaking those churches anew.