Announcements
Pastoral and administrative announcements for 13 diocesan priests Rev. Dean Danos
Rev. Stephen Castille
Very Rev. P.J. Madden, diocesan administrator, after consultation with the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux’s College of Consultors, announced the following pastoral appointments, effective July 1, 2022. Retirement Father Dean Danos, who has been serving as pastor of St. Eloi Church parish in Theriot since July 2016, will be retiring from active ministry. Father Danos, a native of Larose, was ordained to the priesthood May 24, 1980. Diocesan Appointments Father Stephen Castille, has been appointed special assistant to the Office of the Bishop and will be in residence at St. Hilary of Poitiers Church parish in Mathews, with weekend pastoral ministry at St. Hilary and the Community of St. Anthony in Gheens. Father Castille, a native of Church Point, was ordained to the priesthood June 4, 2022.
Rev. Mitchel Semar
Rev. Rusty Bruce
Father Mitchel Semar, who has been serving as pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Church parish in Thibodaux since January 2018, has been appointed full-time diocesan director of the Offices of Vocations and Seminarians. Father Semar, a native of Sulphur, was ordained to the priesthood May 26, 2012. Administrator Appointments Father Rusty Bruce, who has been serving as associate pastor of St. Hilary of Poitiers Church parish in Mathews and the Community of St. Anthony in Gheens since May 2020, has been appointed administrator of St. Hilary and the Community of St. Anthony in Gheens, for a one-year term. Father Bruce, a native of Cut Off, was ordained to the priesthood June 6, 2020. Father Evelio (Toto) Buenaflor, who has been serving as pastor of St. Lawrence Church parish in Chacahoula since July 2021, has been appointed
18 • Bayou Catholic • Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux • June 2022
Rev. Evelio (Toto) Buenaflor
administrator of St. Charles Borromeo Church parish in Pointe-aux-Chenes and Sacred Heart Church parish in Montegut, for a one-year term. Father Buenaflor, a native of M’lang, Cotabato, Philippines, was ordained to the priesthood May 24, 1985. Father Rajasekar (Raja) Karumelnathan, who has been serving as pastor of Sacred Heart Church parish in Montegut and St. Charles Borromeo Church parish in Pointe-aux-Chenes since July 2019, has been appointed administrator of St. Lawrence Church parish in Chacahoula, for a one-year term. Father Karumelnathan, a native of India, was ordained to the priesthood April 27, 2009. Father Brett Lapeyrouse, who has been serving as associate pastor of St. Bernadette Church parish in Houma since February 2022, has been appointed administrator of Sacred
