St. Anthony of Padua Church, a Catholic parish in the New Orleans suburb of Luling, Louisiana, initially included former pastor Anthony Odiong in a list of prayer intentions in its bulletin for the week ending June 7, according to a version of the bulletin obtained by the Guardian. After the Guardian asked the local archdiocese about the listing, the church removed the original bulletin from its website and published a revised version without Odiong’s name, instead placing “Special Intention & Victims of Clergy Abuse” in the same spot.
Odiong served as pastor at St. Anthony of Padua from 2015 until late 2023. A state criminal court jury in Waco, Texas, where Odiong previously ministered, convicted him on May 29 of first- and second-degree sexual assault. The jurors sentenced him to life in prison on June 2, having determined that he exploited his spiritual authority as a clergyman to pursue a years-long sexual relationship with a congregant identified in court as Mary Doe, and that he separately compelled a victim given the pseudonym Jane Doe to yield to intercourse with another man without her consent.
Mary Doe initiated the criminal case against Odiong after seeing a Guardian investigative report in February 2024 about a group of other women, including Jane Doe, who had accused Odiong of sexual coercion, unwanted touching and abusive financial control after meeting him in his role as a priest. Texas law considers such conduct by a religious cleric to be felony sexual assault.
When asked about the original prayer intention for Odiong, Mary Doe and Jane Doe told the Guardian that no corresponding intention for the victims’ healing was listed. Jane Doe said in a statement that the intention made clear to her that “a lot of people have yet to reckon with [the] fact” that Odiong had “used the love and trust of communities.” Mary Doe said praying for “Odiong’s soul” was a right and just purpose but that doing the same for his victims was equally important.
A spokesperson for the Archdiocese of New Orleans initially said a parishioner requested Odiong’s inclusion because Catholics are called to pray for “those who have turned away from God to turn back towards His mercy.” After the bulletin was revised, the archdiocese issued a statement saying Archbishop James Checchio, who took office in February, had “instructed” St. Anthony’s incumbent pastor to include “all who were hurt by Odiong’s actions” in the church’s prayers. The statement also said: “What Odiong is convicted of is reprehensible, and we are disgusted by the behavior revealed in trial.”
Separately, Austin Bishop Daniel Garcia, whose diocese includes Waco, said in a statement that his prayers “focus on the victims, their families, law enforcement, investigators and the community” affected by Odiong’s conduct. “I pray that this process has brought them some peace,” Garcia said. “The longer process of healing continues.”
The charges against Odiong brought by lifelong Catholics received corroboration from numerous other devout women who reported similar experiences after meeting Odiong in his role as a priest, including at St. Anthony of Padua, according to the Guardian.