Holy Trinity Catholic Church: History

Reverend Joseph Gentille (1873-1895)

Joseph Gentille, second pastor of Holy Trinity Church, was born in Dongas, France, January 8th, 1829. Upon graduation from the Grand Seminary of Nantes, he was ordained to the holy priesthood in December 1855 and appointed curate of a small village. In 1860, Father Gentille responded to a request for priests to serve the American missions. He chose to join several of his former seminary classmates who were working in the Diocese of Natchitoches, and for about eight months he assisted the pastor of the church at Campti. Gentille served as vice president of St. Joseph College, Natchitoches, from 1861 until its occupation by the Confederate Army medical department in 1863.

From 1863 to 1869 Father Gentille assisted the pastor at Monroe and visited Catholic communities in the Mississippi River district. He was appointed chaplain-general of the Trans-Mississippi District of the Confederate Army in 1865, but the Civil War ended before he was able to report for service. In 1869 he was assigned pastor at Lake Providence and was serving there when he received his appointment to Shreveport.

During his 22 year ministry at Holy Trinity, Father Gentille maintained a diary recording challenges and difficulties he encountered. The pastor of Holy Trinity at that time was pastor of all Caddo Parish as well as Bossier, Webster and Claiborne Parishes. Gentille's rectory was located on the corner of Marshall and Fannin Streets right next to the church. The housekeeper lived at the back of the lot in a small cottage. The church was apparently in poor condition, and Gentille made every effort to improve both the structural problems and the furnishings. Gaslights were added to the church on Ash Wednesday 1888.

In 1879 the church bell cracked, and its sound became so offensive that Father Gentille stopped its ringing. An appeal was made for funds to replace the bell, but an insufficient amount was collected. In February 1880 the bell was loaded on a river boat to be taken for repair to Troy, New York. That bell, however, proved irreparable, and a new one was ordered arriving in Shreveport in June 1880. The inseription on the bell reads “Our Lady of Lourdes; Sponsors Jules Guerre, Mary T. Copes, C. Horan; Father J. Gentille, 1880, Clinton H. Meneely Bell Company, Troy, New York.”

As early as 1886, Father Gentille felt the need of a new church and endeavored to arouse the enthusiasm of the congregation to the point where they would generously support a building fund. The ladies of the Altar Society held numerous fund raising events and suppers to assist this work.

After several attempts, Father Gentille finally managed to return to his native country for a visit in May 1887. While in France he interviewed an architect and had plans drawn up for a new Gothic style church in Shreveport. Apparently this was not the plan used by Father Gentille's successor, but it shows that the old pastor had set his heart on building a temple worthy of the God he loved so much.

The last paragraph of his diary for the year 1894 reads:

“We had resolved to lay the foundations of our new church early in the Spring of 1895. We found it impossible for several reasons. First, we have no money in the bank. Second, it would have proved a failure to attempt to collect the interest on our church fund...With God's help what was delayed is not abandoned. Next Spring we shall witness a grand ceremony of blessing the cornerstone of a beautiful Catholic Church.”

The spring of 1895 came, but Father Gentille did not see his dream come true. Ill health came instead, and Holy Trinity's second pastor died in New Orleans, October 15th, 1895. He was buried in St. Joseph Cemetery, Shreveport. In the parish records it was noted that

“Reverend Father Granger, of Marshall, Texas, buried in St. Joseph's Cemetery, the Rev. Joseph Gentille...Present at the funeral: Rev. L. Enaut of Monroe, Orator: J. Roulleaux of Fairfield, A. Thiollierre of Pineville, S.B. Scharl of Pineville.”

St. Joseph Cemetery (1882)

On November 9th, 1882, Father Joseph Gentille purchased 10-1/2 acres of land for a Catholic cemetery using his own savings. Purchase price was $210. The location was described in Gentlle's diary as a beautiful one “not too far from the town on the Texas or Greenwood road.”

A Catholic cemetery in Shreveport had been the dream of Father Gentille for over five years, but the Catholics generally exhibited indifference toward the proposal. Father Gentille designated a lay person to negotiate the sale on his behalf. There was some confusion in the process, but Gentille did require the land he wanted.

In early 1883, Father Gentille received $200 from a fair put on by the ladies of the parish. It was his intention to use these funds for fencing and laying out the Catholic cemetery. On March 4th, Gentille designated St. Joseph as the name of the cemetery in honor of his patron saint. Cedar posts were placed ten feet apart with cypress as base and rails and barbed wire in between to serve as fencing. The ground was leveled, and the cemetery was divided in lots twenty feet square, described in Gentille's diary:

four lots with a three feet walk between form a forty three feet square with roads twelve feet all around. Seven roads from North to South are intersected by seven more from East to West. The main road, twenty feet wide, called “Calvary road” leads from the double gate to a (sic) artificial mound seven feet high surmounted by a beauitful Cross.

It is mound that the pastors of Shreveport shall be buried under the shadow of the Cross.

A beautiful double gate - (the) work of W.W. Waring surmounted by a Cross will give entrance to carriages...two side gates will admint visitors on foot.

In November 1883, Gentille secured permits from the Board of Health to transfer the remains of Father Pierre, LeVezouet and Queremais to St. Joseph Cemetery. These were three of the priests who had died in the 1873 Yellow Fever Epidemic. The actual transfer was postponed until cooler weather and took place the last week of March 1884 accompanied by a procession.

St. Joseph Cemetery was donated to Bishop Anthony Durier and the Diocese of Natchitoches in January 1886. Gentille, in his diary, states

“The Bishop seemed to be disposed to adopt compulsory measures to force Father to make the transfer.”

Over $1,200 had been spent to prepare the cemetery. The donation was made without compensation.

In 1979, Msgr. O'Hanlon initiated the project of rebuilding St. Joseph's Cemetery which had deteriorated over the years. His labor of love to restore the beauty and serenity of today's St. Joseph Cemetery was rewarded in 1996 when the Congregation of Holy Trinity Parish and the City of Shreveport renamed the street entrance sign to the cemetery as “O'Hanlon Avenue” in his honor.

Reverend Sebastian B. Scharl (1895-1903)

Father Sebastian Scharl's administration lasted eight years. He was born in Germany and was a gifted author. For Christmas 1902 he published a booklet entitled “Along the Way”, a collection of original poems. He also published a monthly paper called “Trinity Chimes”.

Father Scharl came to Holy Trinity from Pineville, Louisiana, where he had been serving as assistant pastor. At Holy Trinity he lived in a house facing Fannin Street across from the church. The coner of Fannin and Marshall was a vacant lot, and a house facing Marshall was used as a boy's school. This house was used as a rectory during the pastorate of Father Francis Bertels. In 1890-1891 Trinity Hall was built, and services where held there while the new church was under construction.

Scharl continued to raise funds for the new church and succeeded in erecting the present Holy Trinity Church. The conerstone of the new church was laid September 27th, 1896, less than a year after Father Scharl became pastor. An advisory board for construction of the church included the pastor, Messrs. Andrew Querbes, Charles L. Horne and S. Currie. In a letter to Father Scharl dated January 1896, Bishop Anthony Durier directed that the cost of the new church not exceed $18,000 when ready for service. The March 5th, 1899 issue of “Trinity Chimes” contains this information:

Contractors Jones and Duffy expect to complete their work on the new Catholic Church in a few weeks, if the weather promises to continue fair enough for building purposes. The Church will probably be blessed and occupied in the latter part of May. No interior decoration will be undertaken at the present moment except such as is absolutely needed for the occupation of the building. The object of this delay is to gain time for an elaborate interior finish in keeping with the Romanesque style of the Church.

The church was not dedicated until October 1st, 1899, three years after the placing of the conerstone. The invitation sent out for the occasion shows a beautiful drawing of Holy Trinity Church showing an impressive tower crowning the edifice over the transept. This plan was not carried out. A clause in the contract permitted postponement of contraction of the dome if all the money allowed had been spent. The interior of the church was not completed until the administration of Father Bertels. Father Scharl left Shreveport in the spring of 1903 to take up the life of a Capuchin monk in Cincinnati.

Architecture of Holy Trinity Church

The plans for construction of Holy Trinity Church were developed by Nicholas Joseph Clayton (1840-1916), a prominent southern architect known and respected for his work in church design. The style of Holy Trinity was influenced by the Romanesque architecture of southern France also borrowing from the High Victorian Gothic architecture of the medieval period.

Contractors on the church were Jones and Duffey. Charles J. Ott carved the statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus over the main entrance. Garson Brothers and J.H. Harrison were contracted for completion of the interior.

 

 

Reverend Francis Van Haver (1903-1904)

Bishop Anthony Durier asked a young priest by the name of Father Francis Van Haver, who recently had come from Belgium, to become the pastor of Holy Trinity Church. Father Van Haver was at that time pastor of Zwolle. The young priest had been in Sabine Parish only a short time but had grown fond of the people there. His knowledge of English was rather limited, and he was a humble and self-effacing individual. It may be for those reason that he did not cherish his new assignment. There was much to be done in Shreveport then, and he thought the task should be given to someone of greater experience. So his stay in Shreveport on this occasion was short-lived.

Bishop Durier permitted him to return to the people of Zwolle after a stay of only one year in Shreveport. However, Father Van Haver figured prominently in the history of Holy Trinity parish a little later on.