LA FAYETTE, DIOCESE of. — City and diocese in the State of Louisiana, in the United States of America. The diocese comprises the counties of Acadia, Allen, Beauregard, Calcasien, Cameron, Evangeline, Iberia, Jefferson, Davis, Lafayette, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary, and Vermilion.
It has an area of 11,090 square miles and a population of 434,850 inhabitants, of whom 295,000 are Catholics. It has 101 parishes, 96 chapels, and 88 stations served by 113 diocesan and 95 religious priests; 7 male and 15 female religious communities; 3 seminaries; 1 college; 18 diocesan and parochial high schools; and 43 parochial schools. In 1949, there were 315 conversions.
The diocese was created by Pope Benedict XVI on 11 January 1918; its first bishop was Mgr. G. B. Jeammard; it is a suffragan diocese of Nuova Orleons. The cathedral is dedicated to St. John the Evangelist.