CV NEWS FEED // The Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux in Louisiana announced that Bishop Mario Dorsonville died suddenly at age 63 on January 19, less than a year after being appointed as the governing Catholic bishop.
“It is with great sadness and deep shock that I announce to you that our beloved shepherd, Bishop Mario Dorsonville, passed away at 6:50 p.m. this evening after he gave in to complications arising from recent health problems,” announced Fr. Simon Peter Engurait, vicar general of the Diocese.
“I am aware that you will have a lot of questions on your mind,” the priest wrote:
I ask that you be patient with us as we begin to navigate through these uncertain moments. In the meantime, I ask that you keep him in your prayers. Eternal rest be granted unto Bishop Dorsonville and may God’s perpetual light be upon him. Amen.
In an update published January 20, the diocese explained that Dorsonville “passed away due to ongoing health complications related to liver disease which was discovered late last year.”
Funeral arrangements are being prepared and will be announced after the diocese’s College of Consultors meets on Monday, January 22, the statement said.
Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans stated that he and other bishops of Louisiana knew Dorsonville had been ill but that his death came as a shock.
“Around Thanksgiving time, he was in the hospital in New Orleans,” Aymond said. “We knew that there were some problems with his liver.”
Dorsonville felt well enough to attend a retreat of the state’s bishops this month.
Bishop Mario E. Dorsonville was born October 31, 1960 in Bogotá, Colombia, attended the Major Seminary in Bogotá, and was ordained to the priesthood on November 23, 1985 in the Colombian capital.
After studying at the Catholic University of America and serving the Hispanic ministry in the Archdiocese of Washington DC, Dorsonville was named auxiliary bishop for the archdiocese by Pope Francis on March 20, 2015.
On February 1, 2023, Francis appointed him bishop of Houma–Thibodaux. Dorsonville was installed on March 29, 2023.