from the bishop Bishop Francis I. Malone When I arrived in Shreveport in late January, I set some modest goals for 2020. The first goal was to visit personally with every priest working in the diocese. Although COVID-19 put a stop to the regular meetings, within a few months I was able to complete this first goal. The purpose of these meetings was to get to know a little bit about each of my closest collaborators, our priests. I asked them about their background, their family, their faith formation, and their vocation as a priest. In all honesty, I found these meetings to be delightful. I learned a lot about our priests, and I also learned much about our diocese. I am so glad I was able to undertake this first goal with the joy I found in each meeting. Our diocese is full of wonderful, dedicated and holy priests, and I am privileged to be their bishop.
8  THE CATHOLIC CONNECTION
The second goal I set before me was to visit every parish and Mission Church before the first of the New Year 2021. This has not been as successful, as, again the Coronavirus kept me from the frequency of visits I had hoped to make. Still, if I include the Confirmations I have been blessed to perform, I think I have been able to visit about a dozen or more parishes. I have also been able to visit all of our schools, here in Shreveport and in Monroe. Since I have spent a good deal of my priesthood in parishes with schools, I have thoroughly enjoyed these visits. I have successfully visited them all, though small in number, but have enjoyed every minute of, once again, being back in the classroom. I want you to be proud that, in spite of the small number of Catholic schools in our diocese, they are excellent, from the administrators and teachers
