History
Since its founding as a mission of St. Joseph Church (now the Cathedral of the Diocese of Baton Rouge) on May 27, 1912 and its establishment as an independent parish on February 9, 1917, St. Agnes Parish has been a vibrant sign of the presence of Christ in His Church. Seated on the edge of historic Beauregard Town, between Downtown Baton Rouge and Louisiana State University, St. Agnes Parish has proudly served the local community in a variety of fashions. For decades the Dominican Sisters staffed St. Agnes School. After the closing of the school, the Missionaries of Charity, founded by Mother Teresa, set up in its place a women’s shelter and soup kitchen to serve the poor in our area. To these we can also add the Mercedarian Sisters and the Holy Ghost Fathers, together with numerous other diocesan priests, to the ranks of clergy and religious who have ministered in this community that has from its foundation been a beacon of hope and a witness of faith. May God bless each and every person who visits our campus and may He continue to pour out abundant blessings upon St. Agnes Parish, that we may truly live the Catholic faith and pass it on, in its fullness, to the next generation.
May 1912, authorization to form a second parish in Baton Rouge is given by New Orleans Archbishop James Blenk.
November 1912, three lots are purchased for a new mission of St. Joseph Church in Baton Rouge. The purchased property is located between St. Maximilian Street and East Boulevard, in the block currently bounded by South Blvd and Myrtle Ave., in the area known then as Swart Hill.
October 1913, a frame chapel is erected for the new St. Agnes mission and assigned to the Father Francis Rombouts. In 1916, Father Rombouts is assigned to St. Francisville, and Father Vincent Prats takes his place at St. Agnes.
February 9, 1917, St. Agnes is established as an independent parish by Archbishop Blenk. Father Edward Rombouts, brother of Father Frances Rombouts, is assigned as first pastor.
July 3, 1918, the new church is partially destroyed by fire but is rebuilt and enlarged to accommodate the growing congregation.
1920, a church hall is erected to use as a meeting place and for catechetical classes.
October 1934, Father Lucien J. Caillouet becomes the second pastor of St. Agnes. Later he is made a monsignor and vicar general of the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
January 1936, an entire city block located two blocks north of the church is purchased. Three wood frame buildings are erected to serve as a school and convent.
August 1936, Dominican Sisters arrive from New Orleans to staff the school.
September 8, 1936, St Agnes Parochial School opens. Sister Mary Clare, O.P., is the first principal.
June 1938, Father Patrick Gillespie becomes the third pastor of St. Agnes.
February 1942, St. Agnes celebrates its silver anniversary, free of all debt.
1946, properties bordered by East Boulevard, Europe Street, and South 10th Street are purchased for the building of a gymnasium.
December 14, 1947, the new gymnasium is dedicated.
September 5, 1948, a new school building for St. Agnes is dedicated, located on the northeast quadrant of the block bound by East Boulevard, Europe Street, South 10th Street, and Mayflower Street. It is two stories high and 18,000 square feet in area, containing 12 classrooms, library, cafeteria, principal’s office and antechamber.
January 1949, the $250,000 cost of building and furnishing the gymnasium and school is paid in full.
December 18, 1949, Father Gillespie is invested as a Domestic Prelate of the Holy Father and given the title of monsignor at St. Louis Cathedral, New Orleans.
December 21, 1949, construction bids are delivered for a new 13,600 square-foot Romanesque style church, rectory and garage, convent, and covered walkway, all to be built on the same block as the school.
February 20, 1950, a contract is signed with Caldwell and McCann to build the new structures at a cost of $490,110. St. Agnes would be the first church in the Archdiocese of New Orleans to be air conditioned.
September 24, 1950, the cornerstone of the new church is laid.
November 4, 1951, the new church is dedicated by New Orleans Archbishop Joseph Francis Rummel.
1954, a new cafeteria and addition to the school are built.
June 25, 1955, the geographic area of St. Agnes Parish is divided to create the new parish of St. Aloysius.
1961, the Diocese of Baton Rouge is formed. Reverend Robert E. Tracy is appointed the first bishop.'
June 3, 1965, J. Clifton Hill, raised in St. Agnes Parish, is ordained a Holy Ghost priest in Norwalk, Connecticut. He celebrates his first Mass on June 6 at St. Agnes.
June 14, 1965, St. Agnes’s new Casavant Organ Opus 2842 is dedicated by Bishop Robert Tracy.
1966, a Montessori school for children is opened in St. Agnes School, the first of its kind in the diocese. In 1970 it becomes a parent-owned corporation, and in 1971 it moves to a new location.
March 5, 1967, St. Agnes observes its Golden Jubilee as a parish with a Mass concelebrated by Bishop Tracy, Monsignor Gillespie, and Monsignor Caillouet, and a banquet afterward at the recently completed Catholic Life Center.
May 1972, St. Agnes School closes.
September 1972, St. Agnes Vocational Rehabilitation Center opens in the former school building. It closes in May 1984.
1974, associate pastor Father John Spriggs introduces the Legion of Mary to St. Agnes and to the Diocese of Baton Rouge.
August 1974, Reverend Joseph Sullivan is appointed the second bishop of Baton Rouge, after Bishop Tracy retires the previous March.
May 30, 1982, Monsignor Gillespie dies at age 80.
January 18, 1983, Auxiliary Bishop of New Orleans Stanley J. Ott is appointed the third bishop of Baton Rouge, after Bishop Sullivan dies the previous September.
August 1, 1983, Father John Spriggs is made the fourth pastor of St. Agnes Parish.
June 1985, Mother Teresa of Calcutta visits Baton Rouge and selects St. Agnes as the location for a new house of ministry for the Missionaries of Charity.
1986, the last two remaining Dominican sisters depart from St. Agnes after the order’s 50 years of service to the parish.
April 1988, through its Legion of Mary, St. Agnes becomes the vanguard for promoting the Divine Mercy devotion in Baton Rouge.
August 15, 1988, St. Agnes is designated as a confraternity of the Archconfraternity of Our Lady of Prompt Succor in New Orleans.
1988, Bishop Ott appoints St. Agnes to be the church for celebrating the restored Tridentine Mass in the Diocese of Baton Rouge.
June 1991, St. Agnes Knights of Columbus Council 10613 officially begins.
November 1993, Auxiliary Bishop of Boston Alfred Clifton Hughes is installed as the fourth bishop of Baton Rouge, after Bishop Ott dies the previous November.
July 1995, Father Spriggs retires.
August 1995 Monsignor Robert H. Berggreen is installed as the fifth pastor of St. Agnes.
December 28, 1995, Father Spriggs dies suddenly in his native Cobh, County Cork, Ireland, at age 67.
August 1997, a monthly pro-life Mass is begun at St. Agnes for the intention of the end of abortion.
September 5, 1997, Mother Teresa of Calcutta dies.
1998, St. Paul’s Apologetics, the first apologetics group in the diocese, forms at St. Agnes.
April 2001, Sister Dulce Maria, a Mercedarian Sister of the Blessed Sacrament, brings her healing ministry to Baton Rouge, with her office housed in St. Agnes gym.
August 2001, St. Agnes opens a new Eucharistic Adoration Chapel in the gym.
January 2002, Bishop Alfred Hughes succeeds Francis Schulte as Archbishop of New Orleans. Reverend Robert W. Muench, Bishop of Covington, Kentucky, is appointed the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Baton Rouge.
January 2006, Permanent Deacon Tommy Traylor is assigned to St. Agnes, the first for the parish.
July 2006, Father Jeff Bayhi retires as diocesan vocations director and leaves St. Agnes to be pastor of St. John Church in Zachary and St. Mary of the Assumption in Clinton.
January 2007, the St. Agnes Youth Group is the first youth group in the Diocese of Baton Rouge to make a pilgrimage to the March for Life in Washington, D.C.
May 2007, Howard R. Adkins, a member of St. Agnes, is ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Baton Rouge.
2008, Father J. Clifton Hill, CSSp, a native parishioner of St. Agnes and retired university professor, comes to live in residence and assist at St. Agnes.
2009, new 40-year hurricane-resistant roof is installed on the church at a cost of $79,000.
July 1, 2011, Monsignor Berggreen departs St. Agnes to be pastor of St. Mary of False River.
July 16, 2011, Father Joseph Camilleri is installed as the sixth pastor of St. Agnes.
May 26, 2012, parishioner Al Davidson is ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Baton Rouge.
July 15, 2013, Bishop Muench removes Father Camilleri as pastor of St. Agnes and assigns Father Hill as parish administrator.
2014, St. Agnes Food Pantry ministry begins.
January 2015, Father Charbel Jamhoury is made administrator of St. Agnes.
September 4, 2016, the day of the canonization of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Bishop Muench offers a special Mass at St. Agnes.
February 26, 2017, the 100th anniversary of St. Agnes Parish is celebrated with a special Mass and luncheon afterward in the gym. Architectural plans are revealed for renovating the gym into offices, meeting spaces, and storage.
July 9, 2017, Bishop Muench installs Father Charbel as the seventh pastor of St. Agnes.
June 2018, a capital campaign of $2,500,000 is launched to raise funds for a parish master plan, including the gym’s renovation.
July 2018, Deacon Tommy Traylor retires.
August 24, 2018, Shreveport Bishop Michael Gerard Duca is installed as the sixth bishop of Baton Rouge, after Bishop Muench retires the previous December.
December 2019, renovation of the cafeteria becomes the parish priority, and the gym renovation plan is abandoned.
March 17, 2020, Catholic churches in Louisiana, including St. Agnes, are shuttered for two months due to orders by the governor in response to a declared coronavirus pandemic. There are no services for the Easter Triduum.
May 24, 2020, public celebration of Mass resumes at St. Agnes.
September 6, 2020, Father Charbel departs as pastor of St. Agnes to resolve issues with his immigrant visa status.
September 12, 2020, Bishop Duca appoints Father Brent Maher as the eighth pastor of St. Agnes.
May 28, 2021, Father Brent celebrates his tenth anniversary of priesthood with a Solemn High Traditional Latin Mass, the first one in decades at St. Agnes.
August 2021, following Hurricane Ida, unauthorized workers nail a tarp over the church roof, ruining it. The roof is replaced in June 2022 at a cost of $90,000.
November 7, 2021, a farewell Mass and reception for Father Hill are held, as he retires to his religious order’s provincial house in Pittsburgh.
April 25, 2022, an explosion severely damages the cafeteria as it is undergoing renovation. The parish’s main gathering space outside of the church is put out of commission for an additional three years.
Summer 2023, a new five-year master plan for the parish’s physical facilities is devised.
September 2023, the parish office moves from the rectory to the first floor of the old convent, renamed the Office and Catechism Building.
January 2024, the first annual Cenam Agni: The St. Agnes Gala fundraiser is held at the Drusilla Place venue in Baton Rouge.
January-October 2024, the church’s Casavant pipe organ is dismantled and shipped to Quebec, Canada, for refurbishment, and then shipped back and reinstalled, at a cost of $750,000.
September 2024, St. Agnes Homeschool Co-op begins, meeting two half-days each week in the second-floor classrooms of the Office and Catechism Building.
June 1, 2025, the grand opening and blessing of the newly renovated parish hall, including a new adoration chapel; followed by the blessing of the church’s newly restored pipe organ.
August 12, 2025, Father J. Clifton Hill dies at age 89.
November 2025, “Oremus,” a parish-produced prayer book, and a new St. Michael’s hymnal are added to church pews to aid in worship.