St. Jude the Apostle, Baton Rouge

St. Jude the Apostle Parish was established on September 9, 1966. Care of the new parish, which included territory from St. Aloysius and St. George, was assigned to the Southern Province of the Congregation of the Holy Cross. At the time there were 600 families in the parish, but a permanent home would not be built for them until nearly 10 years later in 1974.

Until that time, the founding pastor, Father Clement H. Funke, C.S.C., celebrated Mass in the auditorium of Magnolia Woods Elementary School on Maxine Drive. In 1968, the first St. Jude building was constructed on a ten-acre site at the corner of Highland Road and Gardere Lane. This building was the parish hall, and it served as the church and general meeting area for the next six years until the new church was completed.

The church contained an altar of Texas shell stone. Entombed in the altar are the relics of Sts. Gregory, Orasius and Titus. The Stations of the Cross are carved from linden wood and were obtained from artists in Italy. The same artists also carved two statues in the new church, St. Jude and the Blessed Mother. In the late 1980s the interior of the church underwent a facelift, which included the addition of stained glass windows. In 1992, with private contributions from parishioners, stained glass windows were designed by artist Stephen Wilson and were installed throughout the newly renovated church.

The groundwork for St. Jude School began in 1978. A study was undertaken to assess the needs of such a young parish. It became clear that the desire to offer the best possible Catholic religious education was a major concern for the parishioners. At the time many children of St. Jude could not get into the already over-crowded facilities of St. Aloysius. At the same time, the School Board of St. Aloysius was petitioned with the unique request of establishing an extension of St. Aloysius School on the campus of St. Jude. The multi-purpose facility at St. Jude would provide the spaced needed and St. Aloysius would provide the experience and administrative leadership. Construction on the new school building was completed in August 1983, just in time for the 1983-84 school year. By the 1985-86 school year, St. Jude School stood on its own, no longer operating as a part of St. Aloysius.