Meet Our Pastor

Ordained a priest on June 3, 2017, the liturgical Feast of the Uganda Martyrs, Fr. Jean-Marie Nsambu is a native of Uganda, in East Africa. On July 1, 2019, he took up assignment as Administrator of Holy Savior Catholic Church in Lockport, after serving for one and a half years as associate pastor at the Cathedral of St. Francis de Sales in Houma. Before that, Fr. Jean-Marie was parochial vicar at Annunciata Catholic Church, his inaugural assignment as a priest of Jesus Christ for the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux.


He is a graduate of Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, where he recalls the pastoral ministry of Hospice as being one of his most outstanding in the joy it brought. Before his transition to the United States, Jean-Marie had a long career as a journalist in Print Media in Uganda. He also studied and practiced Law as an attorney, served as a leader in Youth Ministry, and sat on the Pastoral Executive Committee of the Archdiocese of Kampala as a member. As a seminarian in US, he was sponsored by St. Genevieve Church in Thibodaux.


The seventh born in a family of eight siblings, Fr. Jean-Marie is a lover of country music and folk songs, which are a fascination in his family! He is a big sports enthusiast, and especially loves to play soccer whenever he has a chance. Celebrating Mass, he says, is the most fulfilling part of his vocation. “But also the most humbling,” he hastens to add. “Mass reminds me of how unworthy I am – perhaps the most worthless of souls – yet it is the occasion I feel immense strength from Him, our Lord, who called me!” 


To learn even more about our pastor, watch the Q&A video below!