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IMMACULATE CONCEPTION CHURCH
HISTORY
Immaculate Conception Church in Charenton, Louisiana is the sixth oldest church in the Diocese of Lafayette. The Church
was established in 1844. One of the earliest missionaries to Charenton was Father Stephen Theodore Badin. Father Badin
was the first priest to be ordained in the United States. Badin was in the seminary at the time of the French Revolution.
Religious and priests were persecuted at the time of the French Revolution. So, if he were to remain in the seminary, his
life was in danger.
Badin fled to the United States and was ordained in Baltimore, Maryland in 1799. Soon after ordination he was sent to the
frontiers of Kentucky. He began to evangelize the area. He bought land in a multi state area for development as future
parishes and schools. He sold the Holy Cross Fathers the land for the school, which was to, became the University of
Notre Dame.
Father Badin was especially interested in the evangelization of Native Americans. That is probably one reason he came to
Charenton. Badin performed three of the first baptisms recorded in our parish.
The parish originally included all of the area from New Iberia to Morgan City. Seven parishes were formed from Immaculate
Conception Church. Another seven churches were formed from these original seven. Fifteen different parishes now
serve the area originally served by Immaculate Conception Church.
The first church to be formed from Charenton was what is now Assumption Church in Franklin Louisiana. It was originally a
small chapel known as "The Upper Room". It was served out of Charenton. A formal parish was established in 1853. This is
a picture of the original church. Several churches were founded from this eldest child of Immaculate Conception Church
in Charenton
In the 1890's Church of the Assumption founded a mission in Centerville, Louisiana. It was almost 60 years before St.
Joseph Church in Centerville was formally established as a parish.
In the 1930's the pastor of Assumption began going to Verdunville were he said Mass under the trees. After several years
Immaculate Conception Church in Verdunville was founded in 1938. It served the Creole community of the area.
Five years later (1943) St. Jules Church was founded in Franklin. It was initially a mission of Holy Rosary Church in
Jeanerette. Eventually it became a parish and Immaculate Conception in Verdunville became a mission of St. Jules.
Originally the people living in Immaculate Conception (Verdunville), St. Jules, and Holy Rosary were served by Immaculate
Conception in Charenton. In all Church of the Assumption mothered three grand daughter parishes for Immaculate
Conception in Charenton.
In 1879 St. John the Evangelist Church in Jeanerette was established as a parish. It was served by priests from Charenton.
Later priests from Charenton and Patoutville served the mission until a resident pastor was appointed.
In 1944 Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Jeanerette was established to serve the Black community in Jeanerette. It could
be considered a grand daughter of Charenton since it was establsihed out of St. John Church in Jeanerette, a daughter
parish of Charenton. Jeanerette has provided us with a daughter churh and a grand daughter church.
In 1892 St. Joseph in Patterson was founded. Like St. John the Evangelist Patterson was originally a mission of Charenton.
As the populations of Franklin and Jeanerette grew and that of Charenton seemed to diminish some of our early missions
came to be taken care of by our daughter churches.
St. Stephen Church in Berwick has a different history. It was first established in 1898 as a mission of Morgan City. Then
there was no Diocese of Lafayette. The entire area was under the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
When the Diocese of Lafayette was established in 1918 the Atchafalaya River was set as the eastern boundary of the new
diocese. Then the mission at Berwick became a mission of Patterson. The Church in Patterson was served first by
Charenton, then by Franklin. So Patterson was a daughter church of Charenton, making St. Stephen another grand
daughter.
By 1963 St. Stephen Ch urch had grown so much that it became necessary to establish a mission church, St. Bernadette, in
Bayou Vista. This became the first great grandchild of Immaculate Conception Church. These images of children,
grandchildren, and great grandchildren are only used to illustrate the point that originally the entire area was served by
Charenton.
In 1906 Father Bollard, pastor of Charenton built a chapel in Baldwin. For a time Baldwin was a mission of Charenton. Then
in 1936 the roles were reversed and Charenton became a mission of Baldwin. Within a few years Charenton became a full
parish once again.
In the 1930's St. Peter The Apostle Chapel in Four Corners was built as a mission church of Sacred Heart in Baldwin. It was
established to serve the Black community. In 1960 it became a full parish. It could be considered a grand daughter of
Charenton since it was established by Baldwin, a daughter church of Charenton. St. Peter's is once again a mission of
Baldwin.
Four churches were established out of Immaculate Conception Church: Assumption (Franklin), St. John the Evangelist
(Jeanerette), St. Joseph (Patterson), and Sacred Heart (Baldwin). Seven other churches were founded out of these four:
St. Joseph (Centerville), Immaculate Conception (Verdunville), St. Jules (Franklin), Our Lady of the Rosary (Jeanerette), St.
Stephen (Berwick), St. Bernadette (Bayou Vista), St. Stephen the Apostle (Four Corners).
Three other parishes were formed out of areas within our parish boundaries. These new churches also were taken from
areas involving churches older than Immaculate Conception. Technically these larger churches were the mother
churches. However, Immaculate Conception Church did play a role in the birth of these other three churches.
In 1868 a church was established in Patoutville. Although it was formally a mission of New Iberia, many of the parishoners
lived in an area served by Immaculate Conception in Charenton. Several persons baptized in Immaculate Conception
Church ended up in Patoutville.
In the 1960's the church was moved to Lydia.
In 1873 St. Joseph Church in Loreauville was founded. It was originally served by St. Martin of Tours Church in St.
Martinville, the mother church for the entire diocese of Lafayette.While St. Martin of Tours was technically the mother
church of Loreauville, parishoners also came from the churches of New Iberia and Charenton.
Eighty years later in 1953 Our Lady of Victory Parish was established to serve the Black parishoners in the Loreauville area.
In 1892 St. Helena Church at Louisa was established. I could find no record of it being a mission of another church. It
apparently was established and paid for by a grant from the Jules M. Burguieres family. That would account for its direct
establishment as a parish. A mission usually was established under another church until it is economically self sufficient.
Jules was married to Marie Corine Patout. Most of their church records are in St. Nicholas Church in Lydia. Their civil
records are in the St. Mary Courthouse. So apparently they lived in St. Mary Civil Parish. Both Burguieres and Patout
appear in our church records. The parish is located in large part in an area originally served by Immaculate Conception
Church in Charenton
Today St. Helena is one of the smallest parishes in the diocese. It is largely populated by persons of Vietnamese origin.
Today, despite the numerous churches formed from it, our parish is quite small and has only a little over one hundred
families who are active in the church. Many of these are senior citizens. We do provide all the usual services to these
families. We also have weekly Bible study, RCIA, a monthly morning of reflection, First Friday adoration (noon until 5PM).
We have opened a museum which provides people with basic information on our history, the diverse cultures that make
up our parish. There is also a crash course in church history which outlines the story of all 262 popes plus other persons
and events which were important in church history. For more about the museum visit its website by pressing MUSEUM
Thanks for stopping by.
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Charenton Heritage Museum
3041 CHITIMACHA TRAIL
P.O. Box 278
Charenton, Louisiana 70523
337-923-4281
