St. Gerard Majella, Baton Rouge

St. Gerard Majella Parish was officially established just as the Second World War was ending. The new parish was established covering a semi-wilderness area of about 350 square miles.

Within the parish were about 500 families. Priests from St. Gerard also served the missions of St. John, Zachary; St. Isidore, Baker; St. Francis, Greenwell Springs; the Tubercular Sanitarium and Our Lady of Perpetual Help at Harding Field, then an Army Air Corps installation. St. Gerard was founded by Redemptorist priests, and its first pastor was Very Reverend Paul J. Baudry, C.S.S.R. A multi-purpose building was completed in 1946 to serve as both school and temporary church. The School Sisters of Notre Dame arrived in 1945.

St. Gerard Majella was a religious brother and was particularly known for his humility and piety. From the begining of the parish to the present day, he provides powerful intercession to the faithful of this parish which is dedicated to him.

The impressive church which now faces Plank Road was dedicated on October 16, 1958. In June of 1958, St. John, Zachary was separated from St. Gerard and attached to St. Isidore, Baker. In 1962, the mission of St. Francis became St. Alphonsus Parish. In 1963, St. Pius X Parish was established north of St. Gerard and, in 1964, St. Charles Borromeo Parish was established in the southeastern area of St. Gerard Parish. The first pastor at St. Charles was Father Lester Lacassagne. St. Charles Parish was closed in 1999 due to declining Catholic population in the area. 

Though the Catholic population of the neighborhoods of north Baton Rouge has decreased over the years and new challenges have surfaced in this area, the parish endures in its commitment to minister to the people of God.