Sam Jacobs

Sam Galip Jacobs (born March 4, 1938) is an American Catholic retired prelate who served as bishop of Houma-Thibodaux in Louisiana from 2003 to 2013. He previously served as bishop of Alexandria in Louisiana from 1989 to 2003.

Biography

Early years Sam Jacobs was born on March 4, 1938, in Greenwood, Mississippi, but raised in Lake Charles, Louisiana. In 1951, he entered Immaculata Seminary in Lafayette, Louisiana, graduating in 1957. Jacobs then entered the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., as a Basselin scholar, graduating with a degree in theology in 1964.

After graduation from college, Jacobs served as chairman of the National Service Committee for the Charismatic Renewal and diocesan director of vocations and seminarians for the Diocese of Lake Charles. Jacobs served as pastor, chaplain, and associate pastor of several parishes in the Diocese of Lafayette and the Diocese of Lake Charles.

Bishop of Alexandria in Louisiana On July 1, 1989, Pope John Paul II appointed Jacobs as the tenth bishop of Alexandria in Louisiana. He received his episcopal consecration on August 24, 1989, at the Rapides Parish Coliseum in Alexandria, Louisiana, from Archbishop Francis Schulte, with Bishops Boudreaux and Jude Speyrer serving as co-consecrators. In 2002, Andries was charged with touching and masturbating onto a sleeping boy at the family's house in Abbeville, Louisiana. The boy's family sued Jacobs and the diocese

Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux On August 1, 2003, John Paul II appointed Jacobs as the third bishop of Houma-Thibodaux. He was installed on October 10, 2003.

Within the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, he served chairman of the Committee for Evangelization (2005–2007), and was a member of the Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth and the Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis.

Retirement On September 23, 2013, Pope Francis accepted Jacobs's letter of resignation and appointed Auxiliary Bishop Shelton Fabre as the new bishop of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux.