Shreveport Martyrs

The Shreveport Martyrs are five Roman Catholic priests who made a free and willing sacrifice of their own lives while caring for strangers afflicted in the 1873 Yellow Fever Epidemic of Shreveport, Louisiana. All five were missionary priests from Brittany, France who came to serve the Diocese of Natchitoches under Bishop Auguste Marie Martin. They are (listed in the order of their deaths): Father Isidore Quémerais of Pleine-Fougères, Father Jean Pierre of Lanloup, Father Jean-Marie Biler of Plourivo, Father Louis Gergaud of Heric, and Father Francois Le Vézouët of Brélidy. The martyrdom implicit in their collective name is a martyrdom of charity, an offering of their own lives for the sake of others. In December 2020, Bishop Francis Malone of the Diocese of Shreveport recognized them as Servants of God, thereby beginning the Diocesan phase of inquiry for the Cause of Beatification and Canonization. The Vatican's Dicastery for the Causes of Saints combined the five to be considered as a single cause. At its 2023 plenary session, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops gave its unanimous assent to the Cause.^[1] As of late 2024, the Diocesan phase is nearing its completion. The Diocesan Tribunal, gathering testimony and assessing the report of the Historical Commission, will refer the Cause for the commencement of the Roman phase.

During the third worst recorded epidemic of yellow fever in United States history, the city of Shreveport lost one-quarter of its population within twelve weeks, from August 21 to November 18, 1873. The compassionate response to the human suffering was led first by Father Jean Pierre, pastor of Holy Trinity Church in Shreveport, and his assistant, Father Isidore Quémerais. When they both contracted yellow fever by mid-September, Father Pierre appealed to Father Jean Marie Biler for assistance. Biler was chaplain of the Daughters of the Cross community at Fairfield, approximately two miles from the town center. Father Biler responded and awas able to provide the final Sacraments for Quémerais and Pierre, who died on 15 and 16 September, respectively. Soon ill with fever himself, Father Biler sent for the assistance of Father Louis Gergaud of Monroe, Louisiana and Father Francois LeVézouët of Natchitoches, Louisiana. Both arrived in time to continue the work of comfort ministry among the sick of Shreveport, just before the death of Father Biler on 26 September. Father Gergaud succumbed on 1 October and Father Le Vezouet on 8 October. The timeline meant that the Catholics of Shreveport were never left without the Sacraments, and none of the priests died before another arrived to take his place working among the sick and dying.^[2]

The Cause for Beatification and Canonization for the Shreveport Martyrs is based upon the 2017 motu proprio of Pope Francis entitled Maiorem Hac Dilectionem (No Greater Love),^[3] which provided a new way forward for beatification for those who made a free and willing offering of their own lives, out of Christian charity, and persisted in this resolve until the end.

In the earliest public record following the epidemic, the five priests collectively were identified as a "heroic brotherhood," and the earliest post-epidemic image was a composite photograph of them depicted together. They are commemorated together in stained glass windows in the west nave of Holy Trinity Church in Shreveport.

Their lives have been the subject of three books: Shreveport Martyrs of 1873: The Surest Path to Heaven (2021), Shreveport Martyr Father Louis Gergaud: In His Own Words (2022), and Shreveport Martyr Father Jean Pierre: Fearful Steps Strengthened by Hope, pending release in 2025.^[4]

The Shreveport Martyrs are chronicled in a 2021 feature documentary film, The Five Priests, directed by Chris Charles Scott, which won international acclaim at over three dozen film festivals, including the Cannes World Film Festival for Independent Film Makers, the Europe Film Festival, the SoCal Film Festival, and the New York Film Awards. It was licensed for public release in October 2024, with a premiere on EWTN and global streaming platforms.