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Historical ExcerptsMore Excerpts to Come
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Located in the United States portion of the Saint John Valley, St. John Vianney Parish would only be officially created in 2006. As that was the year when the parishes of St. Mary, St. Joseph, St. Charles, St. Francis, and St. Louis were consolidated. The first pastor of the new consolidated parish was Father James Nadeau. At its creation, St. John Vianney Parish would stretch a crossed 471 square miles of northern Maine.
During his tenure as pastor, Fr. Nadeau would oversee the creation of the parish’s thrift shop, the Good Shepherd, and a Newman Club at the local college, the University of Maine at Fort Kent.
In the spring of 2008, a devastating flood would hit the St. John Valley. The flood caused major damage to the St. Louis church building as well as destroying many historical documents and most of the building’s pews. During the repairs, mass for St. Louis were held at the nearby Fort Kent Knights of Columbus Hall. The first mass to be celebrated in the repaired St. Louis would be Christmas Eve 2008 (St. John Vianney Parish, 2010). The St. John church building would also suffer from the flood, having its woodwork damaged (Jandreau, 2009).
In July of 2017 the then Fr. Jean-Paul Labrie would return to the area and serve as the new pastor and during his time, he would be awarded the honor of monsignor in 2025. At various times, Msgr. Labrie would be assisted by other priests. Senior priest Fr. Kent Ouellette would begin in 2025 and is still serving as of the writing this history. Fr. Antony Alexander Marie Doss, HGN would start his term in 2022, and he was preceded by the short term of Fr. Selvaraj Kasi, HGN. Both Fr. Alex and Fr. Selvaraj would serve as parochial vicars and leave before Msgr. Labrie.
When the State of Maine went into lockdown for COVID-19 in 2020, St. John Vianney parish complied with the mandates and recommendation put forth by Bishop Robert Deeley. Uncertainty was a common feeling in St. John Vianney Parish at that time, as it was in the rest of the country. But the parish would emerge from the lockdown and continue to serve the community.
Also, during the term of Msgr. Labrie the parish would see upkeep repairs done to several of the church buildings and the parish’s Faith Formation Center.
Msgr. Labrie would retire on June 30th, 2026; to follow him, Bishop James Ruggieri would appoint Fr. Luc Tougouma, SMA as the new pastor. Fr. Luc was born in the Ivory Coast and is a member of the Society of African Missions. He has done service in Africa and the Archdiocese of Newark before becoming a parochial vicar at Our Lady of the Valley Parish in St. Agatha and Notre Dame du Mont Carmel in Madawaska.
Even though the Parish of St. John Vianney is only officially twenty years old; the Catholic Church has been directly serving the same area in the St. John Valley for well over a century. During that time, the community of the faithful underwent many challenges. But the Church and her parishes were always ready to serve. Service that St. John Vianney Parish will joyfully continue to do into the future.
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Still to Come.
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Still to Come.
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Still to Come.
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Still to Come.
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Still to Come.
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Jandreau, Fernald. The Historic St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church: St. John Plantation, Maine 1909-2009. 2009. St. John Historical Society.
St. John Vianney Parish. A Century of Dedication: Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of The St. Louis Church of Fort Kent, Maine. 2010.
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