The Diocese of Lafayette's Crusade to Save Catholicism: Nationalizing Creole Communities in Southwest Louisiana in the Interwar Period

Events between 1916 and 1926 disrupted the flow of Francophone clergy from Europe to Creole communities in Louisiana. New industries supplanting sugar cane cultivation prompted in-migration of Anglophones and out-migrations of Creoles. English-speakers established diverse Protestant denominations in Creole communities and hired Creoles to assist in their evangelization efforts. In the Diocese of Lafayette, many Creoles apostatized. In response Church officials launched a crusade to save Catholicism and the Church's authority in the region. Severed after World War I from sources of Church personnel in Francophone Europe, the Lafayette diocese looked to Anglophone Catholics with no commitment to local identity and traditions, to expand and bolster Catholicism in Creole communities.