Cornelius Van de Ven

Born in Oirschot in the Netherlands, Van de Ven was ordained into the priesthood for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans on May 31, 1890.

Van de Ven served as the founding pastor of the parish of Our Lady Help of Christians, which was established on Dec. 7, 1891, in Jennings, Louisiana. He was also responsible for chapels or stations at Lake Arthur, Welsh, Mermentau and Point-aux-Loups (later to be known as Iota, La.), across southwest Louisiana. Father van de Ven’s pastorate in Jennings was brief. In 1892, he was called to Lake Charles, Louisiana, as pastor of the “mother parish,” Immaculate Conception, now the seat of the Diocese of Lake Charles, administering Catholic parishes in much of the southwestern part of the state.

On October 24, 1904, he was appointed bishop of the Natchitoches Diocese and was consecrated bishop on November 30, 1904. On August 6, 1910 the name of the Natichitoches Diocese was changed to the Diocese of Alexandria in Louisiana.[1] Bishop Van de Ven died in office.[2]