Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel

Please click here to watch the Installation of Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel (April 15, 2016).

Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel was born on January 6, 1952 in Basile, Louisiana, as the third of eight children to Welfoot Paul Deshotel and Luna Marie Manual.

After attending Immaculata Minor Seminary High School in Lafayette, he went on to attend Holy Trinity Seminary in Texas, where he earned a B.A. in Philosophy, and a Masters of Divinity from the University of Dallas.

On May 13, 1978, he was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Dallas by Bishop Maurice Schexnayder in his hometown church of St. Augustine in Basile. On April 27, 2010, he was ordained as Auxiliary Bishop of Dallas by Bishop Kevin J. Farrell in the Cathedral Shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Guadalupe.

His assignments have included associate pastor and pastor of various church parishes throughout the Diocese of Dallas, as well as Vice Rector of Holy Trinity Seminary in Irving, Texas. Additionally, he has served on the Diocesan Presbyteral Council; Diocesan Priests’ Personnel Board; Diocesan Finance Council; Bishop’s Senior Staff; Diocesan Review Board; Diocesan College of Consultors; and Region X Chairman, USCCB.

On February 17, 2016, Auxiliary Bishop Deshotel was appointed to serve as the seventh Bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette.  He was installed on April 15, 2016 at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist.

Bishop Deshotel's Coat of Arms

The upper portion is blue, white and red, with a white star on the blue field which is the arrangement of the Acadian flag, indicating that His Excellency is of Cajun roots in Lafayette, Louisiana. The Acadians, of French heritage, fled Canada in the mid-1700’s and settled in southern Louisiana.

On the red portion of the tricolors is a fleur-de-lis to represent the deep French connections of the Acadians.

In the lower portion of the design is a green field with a pelican, feeding her brood with blood from her own breast. This symbolism, known as a “pelican in her piety” is a classic representation of southern Louisiana.

For his motto, His Excellency Bishop Deshotel has selected the Latin phrase, “CHRISTUS CARITAS URGET ME.”  In the phrase, Bishop Deshotel expresses his profound belief that it is “Christ’s love that urges me on.”

The achievement is completed by the external ornamentation, a gold (yellow) processional cross, that is placed in back of the shield and which extends above and below the shield, and the pontifical hat, called a “galero,” with its six tassels in three rows on either side of the shield, all in green. These are the heraldic insignia of a prelate of the rank of bishop, by instruction of The Holy See, of March 31, 1969.