The College of Consultors at the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux has elected Rev. Fr. Simon Peter Engurait as the Diocesan Administrator.

He will serve the diocese as its leader until Pope Francis appoints a new bishop.

He briefly worked as a civil servant in Uganda before returning to the seminary. On Monday, he was elected as acting bishop of one of the big dioceses in the United States of America 

His appointment follows the death of   Bishop Mario E. Dorsonville, who died on Friday, January 19, 2024.   A funeral mass is scheduled for February 1 at St. Joseph Co-Cathedral, 721 Canal Blvd., Thibodaux . Thereafter, Bishop Dorsonville will be buried on the grounds of the same Cathedral.

Bishop Mario E. Dorsonville, who hailed from  Bogota, Colombia, was installed  as the fifth bishop of Houma-Thibodaux on March 29, 2023, by New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond at the Cathedral of St. Francis de Sales in Houma

Aged 63, he died on January 19 at Ochsner Medical Center in Kenner after complications from a liver illness.

Engurait  formerly served as the vicar general of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux

According to canon law, the College of Consultors was charged with selecting a diocesan administrator within eight days, a period known as the interregnum.

After Engurait's election on Monday, the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux College of Consultors stated that new diocesan administrator would continue the work of the bishop until Pope Francis names the future bishop. 

Upon his election, Father Engurait made a profession of faith in the presence of the College of Consultors and notified the Apostolic Nuncio of his election.

Fact File

• Father Engurait hails from  Ngora, in Teso subregion Uganda.
• In 2013 he was awarded a Master of Divinity graduate of Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans.
• He was ordained by Bishop Sam Jacobs at St. Francis de Sales Cathedral on May 26, 2013. 
• He served as associate pastor at St. Francis, St. Hilary of Poitiers (Mathews), St. Genevieve (Thibodaux), and Christ the Redeemer (Thibodaux) before his current post as pastor of St. Bridget (Schriever).
• He has been serving at St. Bridget and as the vicar general of the diocese since 2017.
• Media reports indicate that when asked about his election, Engurait stated, “I’m humbled by the confidence of my brother priests. I commit to serve God and his people in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux.”
• The Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux was established in 1977 and comprises the civil parishes of Terrebonne and Lafourche, as well as parts of St. Mary and Jefferson. It has a Catholic population of 90,000 among a total population of 237,171
• The diocese has 39 parishes, three missions, 10 Catholic schools. There are 53 active priests, 14 retired priests and five priests who are either active outside the diocese or completing studies outside the diocese.