Elementary Schools, Parochial

Very Rev. Patrick J. (P.J.) Madden Diocesan Administrator

Diocesan Administrator leads Houma-Thibodaux during Sede Vacante

On Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022, Bishop Shelton J. Fabre, who had been serving as the Fourth Bishop of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux since Oct. 30, 2013, was named as the 10th Bishop and fifth Archbishop of Louisville, Kentucky.

When a diocese becomes vacant, it needs someone to continue the work of its bishop until the future bishop is named. Thus, the church gives a Diocesan Administrator almost all the authority that the departed bishop had. According to canon law, the Diocesan Administrator, who is outstanding in doctrine and prudence, “is bound by the obligations and enjoys the power of a diocesan bishop, excluding those matters which are excepted by the nature of things or by the law itself” (canon 427).

On Friday, April 1, 2022, two days after Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre was installed in the Archdiocese of Louisville, KY, the diocesan College of Consultors elected Very Rev. Patrick J. (P.J.) Madden as the new Diocesan Administrator.

The Very Rev. Madden, a 76-year-old native of Ballinasloe, Ireland, was ordained to the priesthood May 14, 2004. He served as associate pastor at Our Lady of the Rosary Church parish in Larose and St. Bernadette Church parish in Houma; and as pastor at St. Genevieve Church parish in Thibodaux and St. Hilary of Poitiers Church parish in Mathews.

The Very Rev. Madden assumed the position immediately and will serve the diocese as its leader until Pope Francis appoints a new bishop and that bishop has taken possession of the diocese (Canon 430 §1).

Most Rev. Warren L. Boudreaux Founding Bishop 1977-1992 Most Rev. Sam G. Jacobs Third Bishop 2003-2013 Most Rev. Shelton J. Fabre Fourth Bishop 2013-2022

Most Rev. Michael Jarrell Second Bishop 1993-2002