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Father Samuel Maranto, C.S.S.R., Pastor * Bro Clement Furno, C.S.S.R., Staff
Construction of the physical plant began in June, 1945; a three-story combined church/school facility was the parish's first permanent building. The school gymnasium was completed in 1947. Surplus buildings were purchased from the U.S. Government in 1947 and moved from Harding Field to become the new Redemptorist High School (then, St. Gerard Majella High School) In 1953 a cafeteria with six classrooms on the second floor was added. The Scout Hut was built in 1952, added to in 1954 and was replaced by a permanent brick structure in 1965. A convent for the School Sisters of Notre Dame was completed in 1955 and remained occupied until 1981. The building was sold to the Capital Area Family Violence Intervention Center in 1988, and is being used in the Battered Women's Program. The present parish church was formally dedicated on October 16, 1958, the feast of St. Gerard Majella. The permanent buildings of the present Redemptorist High School were erected beginning in 1959. A modern science lab was dedicated in 1998. A music-performance center is scheduled to go up in 2002. A junior high school was completed in 1964. The Madonna Center, dyslexic program, was built in 1985. Majella House was purchased in 1985; today it serves as the parish offices. Before the creation of St. Pius, St. Isidore and St. Charles Borromeo parishes, St. Gerard had as many as 5200 registered parishioners. School enrollment topped our at 1,500. Presently enrollments: 178 St, Gerard Majella Elementary School; 824 Redemptorist High School. The parish has struggled for the past 15 years; both membership and revenues have declined. Current parish statistics are: Registered: 622 families (1261 individuals) Age Groups: 0 - 20 yrs = 10%; 20 - 40 yrs = 20%; 40 - 60 yrs = 30%; 60+ = 40% Ethnicity (estimates): Asian = 5%, Black = 25% , White = 70%
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Development
in North Baton Rouge prompted Fr. Thomas Colbert, pastor of St. Anthony of
Padua, to request the creation of a new parish. St. Gerard Majella was
canonically erected on August 5, 1944. At the same time, Archbishop Joseph
Francis Rummel entrusted pastoral care of the parish to the Redemptorists
(St. Louis Province). Fr. Paul Baudry, CSSR, was the first pastor/superior.
The new parish, together with "mission stations" in Baker, Zachary,
Harding Field and Greenwell Springs, covered an area of 350 square miles. The
first parish census (excluding mission stations) showed a membership total of
500 "families." The School Sisters of Notre Dame arrived in 1946 to
staff both St. Gerard Majella Elementary and Redemptorist High School. They
remained, having served with distinction, until 1981.
