The History of the New Orleans Province

French Jesuits first evangelized Native American nations in the vast territory of Louisiana at the beginning of the eighteenth century. Eventually New Orleans became the headquarters for the mission, with the Jesuit plantation covering what is now the central business district of the city. With the expulsion of the Jesuits from France and its territories, just before the suppression of the Society by Pope Clement XIV, that challenging missionary endeavor came to an end.

In 1837 Jesuits of the Paris Province, at the invitation of the Bishop of New Orleans, founded St. Charles College in Grand Coteau, located in the heart of the Acadian settlements west of Baton Rouge. Other Jesuits, waiting to move on to Kentucky to found a college now known as Fordham University in New York had already been working in New Orleans and its vicinity. In 1838, at the direction of Father General John Roothaan, the Missouri Mission (soon to become a vice-province) assumed control of St. Charles College.

In 1847 the General directed the Lyons Province to assume responsibility for the newly created New Orleans Mission, combining St. Charles College with Spring Hill College, founded by the first Bishop of Mobile in 1830, and a yet-to-be-established college and church in New Orleans. Father John Baptist Maisounabe, S.J., first superior of the dependent mission arrived in New Orleans in August, 1847. On September 12, 1848, he died as a martyr of charity while ministering to yellow fever victims. The following February 2 the Jesuit college opened its doors.

Over the next thirty years, many Jesuits died in yellow fever epidemics, often replacing diocesan priests who had previously succumbed to the contagion. During the Civil War Jesuits served as chaplains in the Confederate army. One even served as chaplain to the Union prisoners at the infamous facility in Andersonville, Georgia.

In 1880 Father Theobald Butler, S.J., an Irishman, one of that first group of 1847, became first superior of the independent mission. Jesuit ministries were by this time located in Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas. In 1907 Father John F. O'Connor, S.J., superior of the mission, became the first provincial of the New Orleans Province. In 1919 the Rocky Mountain Mission of the Naples Province was divided, with New Mexico becoming part of the New Orleans Province. Today the province includes New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi, although there are no Jesuit communities in the latter four states.

Prior to World War II Southern Jesuits arrived as missionaries in Sri Lanka; during the 1960's the province began sending men to work in the Province of Central Brazil. Southern Jesuits are also found laboring in Belize, El Salvador, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and the Philippines.

The articles Pioneer Jesuits in the South: 1566-1763 by Rev. Donald A. Hawkins, S.J. and The Last 150 Years by historian Fr. Tom Clancy, S.J. are recommended reading on the history of our Province.