History of St. Anthony Catholic Church
History of St. Anthony Catholic Church
In 1915 the St. Anthony Society was established to assist the Italian immigrants
coming to Baton Rouge. The Society made a donation for the Construction of a
Chapel to serve the needs of these immigrants. St. Anthony was a mission of St.
Joseph. In 1920 Archbishop Shaw appointed Father Ralph Vincent Lawrence as
the first Pastor of St. Anthony of Padua, a parish of about 225 families. In 1922 a
larger Church was constructed and in 1923 Father Thomas Colbert was appointed
Pastor. He served for 25 years. St. John in the Plains, Zachary, St. Isidore, Baker
and St. Francis, Greenwell Springs (now St. Alphonsus) were three missions
attached to St. Anthony. A Parish Corporation was formed to handle the
transactions under a charter on December 7, 1921 with the legal title of
“Congregation of St. Anthony’s Roman Catholic Church of East Baton Rouge,
Louisiana. By 1926, population was 1500 and by 1928 it was 2000. The average
mass attendance on Sunday’s was recorded at 600 adults and 900 children. In 1937
the parish census showed an increase to 2800 Catholics. A third Church and a
school were constructed to handle the growing congregation. Over the years the
boundaries changed as new Parishes were established with the city, including St.
Gerard, Sacred Heart, Our Lady of Mercy and St. Charles. The fourth Church was
completed in 1953. The first Mass in the new Church was held on Christmas Eve
in 1953. Several changes were at work in the 1960’s which changed the area
around the church. A zoning shift from residential to industrial; construction of the
I – 110 interstate, many homes were leveled and suburbs moved toward the south
and east. A rebirth for St. Anthony occurred in 1988 when the Vietnamese
Community became a part of St. Anthony Parish. Soon after the parish were
renamed Sts. Anthony of Padua and Le Van Phung Parish. The Buildings and
grounds have been transformed and a new energetic spirit is evident in this
multicultural community. The Vietnamese Catholics were being welcome to St.
Anthony of Padua Catholic Church.
The Vietnamese Catholics Coming to St. Anthony Church
Sts. Anthony of Padua and Lê Văn Phung Parish in Baton Rouge used to be called St. Anthony of Padua Parish. Besides St. Anthony, the new name also honors St. Lê Văn Phung, a Vietnamese martyr, who was canonized by Pope John Paul II in June 1988. It also indicates that the parish is now the home of most of the Vietnamese Catholic community in Baton Rouge. When and how did the Vietnamese come to the parish? The story started over 50 years ago when South Vietnam was lost to the Communist from the North. In July 1975, the first 5 Vietnamese families came to Baton Rouge from refugee camps. All were sponsored by the Diocese. For the first several months, they were living in the old “white house” across the street from St. Anthony Church, which has been torn down. Among those 5 families was a widow, and one of her children was a 16 year-old boy named Than Vu who did not speak English. And, later he was Father Than Vu, the Vicar General (VG) of the Diocese of Baton Rouge and pastor of St. Aloysius. Besides those first five families, three Vietnamese priests were also sponsored by the Diocese at the same time. One of them was Fr. Paul Nguyen, whose first assignment was at Immaculate Conception Church in Lakeland, LA. Fr. Paul drove to Baton Rouge on Sunday afternoon to say Mass for the Vietnamese Catholics at St. Anthony. Later he was assigned an Associate Pastor at St. Anthony and at the same time was the chaplain of the Vietnamese Catholic Community. More Vietnamese “boat people” refugees came to town from many refugee camps in Southeast Asia during the following 15 years. In 1990 there were approximately 2,000 Vietnamese in BR, half of them were Catholics and worshiped at St. Anthony. In 1983 Fr. Joseph Hung Viet Nguyen, ICM from New Orleans was brought to BR by Bishop Ott when Fr. Paul retired from St. Anthony. For the first 2 years in BR, Fr. Joseph was a resident priest at Sacred Heart church and therefore the Vietnamese Catholics “moved” there. In 1985, Bishop Ott re-assigned Fr. Joseph to St. Anthony as an administrator, then a pastor, and the Vietnamese Catholics moved back to St. Anthony with him. St. Anthony has officially become the Vietnamese Catholic Community’s home parish. Since then, Fr. Joseph has retired and became the Superior General of the order of Incarnatio – Consecratio - Missio in the United States, and Fr. Francis Minh Nguyen, ICM became the next pastor. He was the priest responsible for all of the renovations that you see today. Fr. Joseph requested the help of Fr. Francis who was with us about seven years to oversee the building of the Retreat Center in Texas for the ICM. Fr. Dominic Chinh Pham, ICM replaced Fr. Francis Nguyen in which he only was with us for about a year. Fr. Dominic was requested to go to the Philippines by Fr. Joseph for the Formation of Priest for the ICM Religious Order. The next pastor was Fr. Peter Tan Viet Nguyen, ICM. Under Fr. Joseph the Vincent Liem Sunday School was established. Now the school has 350 students from pre-K to 12th grades. Classes meet from 10 AM to 12:30 PM on Sundays except during the summers. From 1990 until about 2005, hundreds of Vietnamese came to Baton Rouge every year in the “H.O. Program” which allowed former South Vietnamese officials and military personnel and families to come to the States. As a result, the Vietnamese Catholic Community grew to the size of about 3,000. Sts. Anthony of Padua and Lê văn Phung parish has 597 Vietnamese families registered as members among the total of 733 families. The Vietnamese live everywhere in Baton Rouge and the surrounding towns; of course many of them have chosen to register at other Catholic churches near their homes. Currently, father Peter Hieu Quang Nguyen, ICM is the pastor who is responsible
for all the activities and new Catholic Associations in the parish. There are 3350 Vietnamese families among the total of 3500 registered families in which 1
Vietnamese permanent deacon, 2 Vietnamese candidates for permanent deacon, 8 ICM nuns and 3 ICM priests living and serving the parish. There has been 3 more new choirs (Maria, Mother of God choir, The Holy Spirit Choir, and St. Teresa of the Child Jesus Choir (The Youth Choir) among the total of 5 (Tin Yeu Choir and Hien Dang Choir), and 2 more new associations (Lam Dep Nha Chua Association and Tong Do Fatima Association) among the total of 9 (Legio Maria, Lien Minh Thanh Tam Association, Cac Ba Me Cong Giao Association, Altar Service Association, Lector Association, Sacristy Assistant Association, and Security Association. The parish has daily morning mass from Monday to Saturday at 6:45 a.m. Right after daily mass is half an hour Eucharistic Adoration. There is a vigil Sunday mass on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. and three masses on Sunday at 7:45 a.m. 10 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. Before 10 a.m. Sunday mass is the Holy Eucharist adoration from 9-9:50 a.m. St. Anthony and Le Van Phung welcome all visitors and new members of the parish. Our doors are open to anyone who is searching for a church home, and we invite you to join us by calling the church office at 225–357 4800 from Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. It is our pleasure to welcome you.