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Rev. John Engbers

Ordained: 1949

Five girls in one family and two in another accused Engbers of molesting them in mid-1950s. Civil suits filed 1985. Engbers was transferred after 1st abuse (he admitted abuse to parents but told them church would take care of the problem) and then abused again. He fled to Holland after being removed from his position after Church found out about suits.

Start Stop Assignment Town/Accusations State Position Notes

1949

Lafayette bishop was Jules Benjamin Jeanmard (1918-1956)

1953 Immaculate Conception

Lake Charles

Accused in a 1985 lawsuit of having molested two Lake Charles girls, who were sisters, in 1952 when the girls were age 3 and 7. (United Press International
January 2, 1986)

LA

4/4 ,3/4

Parish had a school with 603-479 students.
1949 1952 St. Hubert's Goosport LA  

This was a chapel of Immaculate Conception in Lake Charles.

1949 1953 St. Henry Eastdale LA    
1953 1954 Our Lady of the Lake Lake Arthur LA 2/2

 

1953 1954 Little Flower Shell Beach LA   This was a mission of Our Lady of the lake in Lake Arthur.
1953 1954 St. Gertrude Andrus Cove LA   This was a mission of Our Lady of the lake in Lake Arthur.
1953 1954   Lowry LA   This was a mission of Our Lady of the lake in Lake Arthur.
1954 1956 St. Anthony of Padua Eunice LA 2/2, 2/3 Parish had an elementary school with 491-346 students, and a high school with 96-90 students.
1954 1956 St. Catherine's Durald LA   This was a mission of St. Anthony of Padua in Eunice.
1954 1956 St. Agnes Eunice LA   This was a mission of St. Anthony of Padua in Eunice.

1956

Bishop was Maurice Schexnayder (1956-1972)

1968 St. Helen's

Louisa

Accused in a 1985 lawsuit of having sexually abused 5 sisters when they were little girls. One of the sisters said Engbers began molesting her in 1957, when she was 7 years old. The family had moved into the rectory for a year after their home was destroyed by a hurricane. (United Press International
November 15, 1985) They claimed the abuse continued until they were adults, and that they told church officials about the abuse a number of times, but that nothing was done. (Associated Press
February 15, 1987)

LA 1/1  
1956 1968 Our Mother of Mercy Weeks Island LA   This was a mission of St. Helen's in Louisa.
1956 1961 St. Joan of Arc Glencoe LA   This was a mission of St. Helen's in Louisa.

1956

Gerard Louis Frey replaced Schexnayder as bishop (1972-1989)

1973 Diocesan position: Approved Advocates and Procurators        
1973 1976

Diocesan position:
Art and Architecture Commission

    Chairman  
1968 1977 St. Peter's Gueydan LA 1/2, 1/1 Parish had a school with 154-192 students.
1968 1977 St. David's Marceaux LA   This was a mission of St. Peter's in Gueydan.
1977 1980 St. John the Evangelist Mermentau LA 1/1  
1977 1980 St. Margaret's Estherwood LA   This was a mission of St. John the Evangelist in Mermentau.
1980 1985 Our Lady of Perpetual Help Leroy LA 1/1  
1985 1987 Retired      

Engbers is not indexed in the Directories after 1987.

He left Louisiana and fled to his native Holland in 1985 after his accusers filed suit. (Associated Press
February 15, 1987)


Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: Kenedy & Sons, 1948-1987).

Priests in a Parish: We use the following convention to show a priest's place among the clergy of a parish: 1/2 means that he is the first priest listed in the Official Catholic Directory (usually the pastor) and that there is a total of two priests at the parish. The shorthand 3/4 means that the priest is listed third on a four-priest roster. See our sample page from the Directory.

Note: The Official Catholic Directory aims to report the whereabouts of Catholic priests in the United States on January 1 of the Directory's publication year. Our working assumption is that a priest listed in the Directory for a given year was at the same assignment for part of the previous year as well. However, Kenedy & Sons will sometimes accept updates well into the year of publication. Diocesan clergy records are rarely available to correct this information. The Directory is also sometimes misleading or wrong. We have tried to create an accurate assignment record, given the source materials and their limitations. Assignment records are a work in progress and we are always improving the records that we post. Please email us with new information and corrections.

 
 

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