On August 29, 2021, the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s landfall in Louisiana, the state was devastated by Hurricane Ida. The Category 4 storm knocked out power, water and gas infrastructures across the state. It demolished thousands of homes, leaving families displaced and vulnerable.
The Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, located to the southwest of New Orleans along the Gulf Coast, took a direct hit. Approximately 75 percent of the diocese’s properties sustained damage.
What Hurricane Ida couldn’t tear down, however, was the strong spirit of the Catholic Church. In times of crisis, the Church often shows Her best self, giving hope to those who have lost so much.
In these times of peril and uncertainty, the Church’s most compassionate and competent leaders often emerge to the forefront. Such was the case in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, where Very Rev. Simon Peter Engurait and Karen David have led spiritual and humanitarian relief efforts that touched thousands of vulnerable families impacted by Hurricane Ida’s devastation. More than anything, their presence has comforted those who have lost everything.
Answering the call to lead
Just a week after the storm, the executive director position at Catholic Charities Houma-Thibodaux became vacant, leaving no one to navigate these communities through their darkest days. Bishop Shelton Fabre (who was the bishop at the time of the hurricane) asked Father Engurait, a member of his senior leadership team, to serve as interim director.
Father Engurait already wore many hats, including as serving as pastor of St. Bridget Catholic Church in Schriever and overseeing each diocesan administrative office. Now he was being tasked with leading the diocese’s disaster response efforts after one of the most catastrophic storms in the state’s history.
Father Engurait asked Karen David, a retired senior executive at Johnson & Johnson, to serve as his right-hand officer. David, a longtime diocesan volunteer at the Catholic Community Center food bank and thrift store, refused compensation when offered the role.
She stated,
This is a gift I can give to our community.”
That gift, given by both Father Engurait and David, is their love for their community and genuine desire to help those still suffering the most, emotionally and economically.
When Father Engurait is asked how the diocese is doing amid the ongoing recovery, he is quick to answer that a diocese is more than its buildings. The mission of the Church is alive and well. It is focused on the people of the community, those who right now are hurting, are without homes and jobs, and whose livelihoods have been destroyed.
Father Engurait said, “Many people just needed somebody to talk to, somebody to hear them. They would say things to us like, ‘Yeah, I want some water, but more than that I want you to hear me.’”
The one thing people did not lose, Father Engurait admirably noted, was their faith.
“It was amazing to see and listen to people who, in spite of the devastation that they experienced, were still aware of the presence of God,” he said.
Father Engurait recalls many just being thankful to be alive, telling him,
We are going to make it. God has spared my life. I’ve lost everything, but God has spared my life.”
Following the hurricane, Catholic Extension Society helped the diocese create temporary worship places so people could gather again and rally together as communities of faith.
“Truly the work of God”
David has played a key role listening to people, providing for their needs with supplies and, in several cases, personally “adopting” families to ensure they have food on the table and a roof over their heads.
One mother from a family of five remarked, “She has come into my life and made changes in ways I can’t explain. Truly the work of God!
She continued in gratitude,
I can never thank her enough for all that she has done for myself and my kids. She helped restore my faith.”
A renewed faith is something that Father Engurait has seen throughout the diocese. While there was a decline in parishioners during the COVID-19 pandemic, people began returning to the Church in even larger numbers after Hurricane Ida.
“We saw numbers bump back up as people turned to God in these times of difficulty,” Father Engurait said. “I think the relevance of the Church was manifested in this time of need.”
In the time since Hurricane Ida made landfall one year ago, Father Engurait and Karen David have spent all their energy and efforts responding to the needs of the underserved, poor and most vulnerable within the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, sharing hope and leading with faith. They truly exemplify how the Church always rises to the occasion, especially in times of difficulty.
Bishop Fabre, who, as of March 30, 2022, is now the archbishop of Louisville, Kentucky, summed it up well.
When I was ordained a bishop, I selected my episcopal motto as, ‘Comfort my people.’ This motto has rung true in my heart this past year more than it has ever before.”
And he continued,
“Father Simon Peter and Karen David have helped me to do just that: comfort my people.”
Catholic Extension Society is honored to share the accomplishments of Very Rev. Simon Peter Engurait and Karen David, finalists for the 2022-2023 Lumen Christi Award. Visit this page to read the other inspiring stories from this year’s finalists.
