Rev. John Anthony Engbers-Assignment

Rev. John Engbers

Ordained: 1949

Five girls in one family and two in another accused Engbers of molesting them in mid-1950s. Civil suits filed 1985. Engbers was transferred after 1st abuse (he admitted abuse to parents but told them church would take care of the problem) and then abused again. He fled to Holland after being removed from his position after Church found out about suits.

Start	Stop	Assignment	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
1949 Lafayette bishop was Jules Benjamin Jeanmard (1918-1956)	1953	Immaculate Conception	Lake Charles • Accused in a 1985 lawsuit of having molested two Lake Charles girls, who were sisters, in 1952 when the girls were age 3 and 7. (United Press International January 2, 1986)	LA	4/4 ,3/4	Parish had a school with 603-479 students.
1949	1952	St. Hubert's	Goosport	LA		This was a chapel of Immaculate Conception in Lake Charles.
1949	1953	St. Henry	Eastdale	LA
1953	1954	Our Lady of the Lake	Lake Arthur	LA	2/2
1953	1954	Little Flower	Shell Beach	LA		This was a mission of Our Lady of the lake in Lake Arthur.
1953	1954	St. Gertrude	Andrus Cove	LA		This was a mission of Our Lady of the lake in Lake Arthur.
1953	1954		Lowry	LA		This was a mission of Our Lady of the lake in Lake Arthur.
1954	1956	St. Anthony of Padua	Eunice	LA	2/2, 2/3	Parish had an elementary school with 491-346 students, and a high school with 96-90 students.
1954	1956	St. Catherine's	Durald	LA		This was a mission of St. Anthony of Padua in Eunice.
1954	1956	St. Agnes	Eunice	LA		This was a mission of St. Anthony of Padua in Eunice.
1956 Bishop was Maurice Schexnayder (1956-1972)	1968	St. Helen's	Louisa • Accused in a 1985 lawsuit of having sexually abused 5 sisters when they were little girls. One of the sisters said Engbers began molesting her in 1957, when she was 7 years old. The family had moved into the rectory for a year after their home was destroyed by a hurricane. (United Press International November 15, 1985) They claimed the abuse continued until they were adults, and that they told church officials about the abuse a number of times, but that nothing was done. (Associated Press February 15, 1987)	LA	1/1
1956	1968	Our Mother of Mercy	Weeks Island	LA		This was a mission of St. Helen's in Louisa.
1956	1961	St. Joan of Arc	Glencoe	LA		This was a mission of St. Helen's in Louisa.
1956 Gerard Louis Frey replaced Schexnayder as bishop (1972-1989)	1973	Diocesan position: Approved Advocates and Procurators
1973	1976	Diocesan position: Art and Architecture Commission			Chairman
1968	1977	St. Peter's	Gueydan	LA	1/2, 1/1	Parish had a school with 154-192 students.
1968	1977	St. David's	Marceaux	LA		This was a mission of St. Peter's in Gueydan.
1977	1980	St. John the Evangelist	Mermentau	LA	1/1
1977	1980	St. Margaret's	Estherwood	LA		This was a mission of St. John the Evangelist in Mermentau.
1980	1985	Our Lady of Perpetual Help	Leroy	LA	1/1
1985	1987	Retired				Engbers is not indexed in the Directories after 1987. He left Louisiana and fled to his native Holland in 1985 after his accusers filed suit. (Associated Press February 15, 1987)

Source: Official Catholic Directory (New York: Kenedy & Sons, 1948-1987).

Priests in a Parish: We use the following convention to show a priest's place among the clergy of a parish: 1/2 means that he is the first priest listed in the Official Catholic Directory (usually the pastor) and that there is a total of two priests at the parish. The shorthand 3/4 means that the priest is listed third on a four-priest roster. See our sample page from the Directory.

Note: The Official Catholic Directory aims to report the whereabouts of Catholic priests in the United States on January 1 of the Directory's publication year. Our working assumption is that a priest listed in the Directory for a given year was at the same assignment for part of the previous year as well. However, Kenedy & Sons will sometimes accept updates well into the year of publication. Diocesan clergy records are rarely available to correct this information. The Directory is also sometimes misleading or wrong. We have tried to create an accurate assignment record, given the source materials and their limitations. Assignment records are a work in progress and we are always improving the records that we post. Please email us with new information and corrections.