St. Mary Magdalen Church in Abbeville getting new pastor

St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church will be getting a new pastor, Bishop Jarrel announced Saturday.
Rev. William Blanda will be leaving St. Mary Magdalen after 12 years at the Abbeville church. Prior to that, he was a pastor in Kaplan for nine years.
His new six-year assignment will be the pastor at St. Peter Parish in New Iberia.
The new pastor at St. Mary Magdalen will be Rev. Louis Richard for a six-year term.
The new pastors will be at their churches in July.
Richard is no stranger to Abbeville. He was born and raised in Abbeville. He was ordained as a priest in 1981 in St. Mary Magdalen.
Fr. Richard comes to Abbeville after serving as the pastor at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Broussard for 11 years, six months.
He is also the chaplain at Acadiana Ambulance for 30 years.
Fr. Richard is familiar with school operations. For the last seven years he has been the chancellor at St. Thomas More Catholic High School in Lafayette.
Last year Fr. Richard received the Jefferson Award for his work in hospice care.
He was one of the founders of Hospice of Acadiana. The Jefferson Award was created to award the ordinary person for his or her service, as a nobel prize for public service.
Fr. Richard was a part of a group that started Hospice of Acadiana in 1983 with one employee and the rest volunteers.
Replacing Fr. Richard in Broussard will be Fr. Paul Bienvenue.
Fr. Mario Romero has been appointed to the Office of Pastor of Nativity of Our Lady Parish in New Iberia for a term of six years.