Pastor, activist and journalist Fr. Jerome LeDoux dies at 88

14th January 2019   ·   0 Comments

Father Jerome LeDoux S.V.D., a Lake Charles, La. native and beloved and fearless pastor, activist and journalist, passed away on Monday, January 7, at the age of 88.

LeDoux was a faithful and dedicated priest of the Society of the Divine Word for 61 years who joined Council 89 – Our Mother of Mercy – in 2009.

After completing high school at St. Augustine Seminary, Bay St. Louis MS 1943-47, LeDoux did two years’ novitiate (spiritual training) in the SVD seminary at Techny, IL 1947-49.

He completed two years of college at Divine Word Seminary in Epworth IA 1949-51 and his final two years at St. Augustine Seminary, Bay St. Louis MS 1951-53.

He completed four years of theology at St. Augustine Seminary 1953-57, was ordained to the priesthood May 11, 1957 in St. Augustine Seminary chapel
and studied in Rome 1957-1961, earning a doctoral degree in Canon Law, master’s degree in Sacred Theology.

He taught Moral Theology and Canon Law at St. Augustine Major Seminary in Bay St. Louis MS 1961-1967 and Theology at Xavier University in New Orleans 1969-1980.

Along the way, he touched many lives and inspired the masses, especially in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. His pastoral assignments included the following:

• Pastor of St. Martin de Porres Church in Prairie View TX 1981-1984

• Pastor of St. Martin de Porres Church in Prairie View TX 1981-1984

• Pastor of St. Paul the Apostle Church in Baton Rouge LA 1984 -1988

• Pastor of St. Augustine Church in New Orleans LA 1990-2006

• Pastor of Our Mother of Mercy Church in Fort Worth TX June 1, 2006-August 11, 2015.

Father LeDoux may best be remembered for the joie de vivre, enthusiasm and effervescence he displayed as pastor of St. Augustine Church in the historic Faubourg Treme, a centuries-old church where enslaved Africans, free people of color and whites worshipped alongside one another.

LeDoux penned an autobiography, “The War of the Pews,” that took its title from St. Augustine Church’s early years, when pew fees were common. Free people of color bought pews for their families and pews to be set aside for slaves. White worshipers, not to be outdone, bought pews for their families, too. The free people of color won by a three-to-one margin; the result was the country’s most thoroughly integrated congregation, according to the church’s website.

When free people of color organized in the 1830s and received permission from Bishop Antoine Blanc to build a church, the Ursuline Sisters donated the property, on the condition that the church be named St. Augustine, after one of their patron saints, Augustine of Hippo. The church was dedicated on October 9, 1842. At a time when there were pew fees, free people of color paid for extra pews so that enslaved Blacks could also attend.

A few months before the October 9, 1842 dedication of St. Augustine Church, the people of color began to purchase pews for their families to sit. Upon hearing of this, white people in the area started a campaign to buy more pews than the colored folks. Thus, “The War of the Pews” began and was ultimately won by the free people of color who bought three pews to every one purchased by the whites. In an unprecedented social, political and religious move, the colored members also bought all the pews of both side aisles. They gave those pews to the slaves as their exclusive place of worship, a first in the history of slavery in the United States. This mix of the pews resulted in the most integrated congregation in the entire country: one large row of free people of color, one large row of whites with a smattering of ethnics, and two outer aisles of slaves.

The Faubourg Tremé has traditionally been an African-American neighborhood, although it has included a multicultural community. Along with the neighboring parish of St. Peter Claver, the parish is known in New Orleans for its association with the Black Catholic community. The church hosts the annual Jazz Mass, held in conjunction with the Satchmo Festival, which honors Louis Armstrong’s birthday.

Famous parishioners have included civil rights activists, musicians and other leaders Homer Plessy, A.P. Tureaud Sr., Sidney Bechet and Allison “Tootie” Montana.

Father LeDoux was an inspiration to all in the parish and community after the Great Flood of 2005.

Because of substantial property losses in the city after Hurricane Katrina and a decline in population, the diocese decided to close St. Augustine Church, despite the fact that it had been providing extensive community support. Parishioners asked hurricane relief volunteers for help in a protest. They barricaded themselves in the church’s rectory to demonstrate against closure. After two weeks, parishioners and church officials agreed on a compromise.

The church was allowed to remain open after presenting a plan of action to address critical areas, including congregational growth, fund raising, and management improvements. The archdiocese would review its status after 18 months. A documentary film about the protest entitled “Shake the Devil Off” increased publicity for the church’s efforts to survive.

In May 2008, St. Augustine Church received a $75,000 grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express to aid in needed renovations to the historic parish hall, a center of community services. Enhanced use of the parish hall for community services was integral to the church’s plans for the future. In March 2009, St. Augustine Church announced that due to its progress, the archdiocese had decided it would not be closed and had taken the church off probation.

The Times-Picayune /Nola.com reported last week that in an interview during the turbulent period, Father LeDoux professed not to be worried, and he didn’t mention the controversy.

“Why should I?” he said. “God takes care of that. It’s in the hands of God and Archbishop (Alfred) Hughes. Why should I be troubled? I’ll let God and Archbishop Hughes take care of that.”

“We are grateful for Father LeDoux’s priestly ministry in the Archdiocese of New Orleans,” Archbishop Gregory Aymond said. “We know his ministry touched the lives of many people and called them to live more faithfully as disciples of Jesus.”

“He was so full of life,” Donna Fontenot, the church’s secretary, said. “If you knew him, you never forgot him.”

A priest with an extensive knowledge of Black, Father LeDoux was a proud sportier of the Buffalo Soldiers, often dressing in their regalia, and created the “Tomb of the Unknown Slave” at St. Augustine Church honor enslaved Africans in New Orleans.

Father LeDoux was a bit of a rock star in his parish, donning colorful robes during Mass, dancing in the aisles and famously riding a donkey on Palm Sunday.

“Father LeDoux was St. Augustine Church,” Naydja Bynum, a longtime parishioner and friend, told The Times-Picayune/Nola.com.. “It broke my heart that he died.”

Under Father LeDoux’s leadership, “the church was open to the world,” Bynum said, adding that he was “the people’s priest.”

Kenneth Adams remembers Father LeDoux from his time at Xavier. “Even though I wasn’t studying theology he kin of took me under his wong,” Adams told The Louisiana Weekly. “He helped me with my English papers and was always there to encourage and challenge me.

“If we had more human beings like Father LeDoux, the world would be a much better place,” Adams added.

“He wasn’t just a pastor or spiritual leader,” Treme resident Imani Simmons told The Louisiana Weekly. “He a was a living legend, an African griot with this vast knowledge of Black history, a wise and sassy oracle and just this phenomenal human being.”

Since June 5, 1969, LeDoux had been writing a weekly column, “Reflections on Life,” syndicated in several Catholic weeklies and carried in The Louisiana Weekly in New Orleans, the Seacoast Echo in Bay St. Louis MS, the Long Beach Times, the Opelousas Daily World and the New St. Pete Bulletin in California.

Father LeDoux is survived by two brothers, the Rev. Louis Verlin LeDoux of Tacoma, Washington, and Nathaniel LeDoux of Las Vegas; and a sister, Veronica Mitchell of St. Albans, New York.

A second Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Wednesday (Jan. 16) at St. Augustine Seminary in Bay St. Louis. A viewing will be held there from 5 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. Tuesday, followed by a vigil and evening prayer at 7 p.m. A Mass at Holy Ghost Church, 747 N. Union St., Opelousas, La. will be held at 6 p.m. Monday (Jan. 14). Visitation will begin at 3 p.m.

Burial will be at the seminary.

This article originally published in the January 14, 2019 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.