Pastor
Phone: 337-436-8093
Email: Click Here to Email
Father Rommel Pasion Tolentino was born in the Philippines on January 16, 1973. The youngest of four children, he was raised in a traditional Filipino Catholic family and received Catholic education from Elementary School to College.
He came to the United States in 1997 to work as a Physical Therapist at St. Patrick Hospital in Lake Charles. After a period of discernment, he felt called by God to the Priesthood and received his seminary training at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans. He did Supervised Parish Ministry at Immaculate Conception Church in Jennings in the summer of 2002, Supervised Ministry of Religious Education at Holy Name of Jesus Parish in New Orleans for the school year 2002-2003, Clinical Pastoral Education at Florida Hospital in the summer of 2003, and Parish Internship at Our Lady Help of Christians in Jennings from June-October 2004.
Father Rommel was ordained a transitional deacon on January 29, 2005 at the Cathedral of St. Louis King of France in New Orleans by Archbishop Alfred Hughes. He was ordained to the Priesthood of Jesus Christ on May 14, 2005 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Lake Charles by Bishop Edward Braxton.
Father Rommel has served as Parochial Vicar for Our Lady Queen of Heaven Church in Lake Charles (2005-2008), Pastor of St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church in Hackberry and Our Lady of the Assumption Mission Chapel in Johnson Bayou (2008-2014.) He was instrumental in rebuilding the two churches in Cameron parish damaged by Hurricane Ike.
Father Rommel completed 8 years as Pastor of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (2014-2022), where he helped the Bishop and the Diocese in a massive restoration project for the Mother Church of Lake Charles. Bishop Glen John Provost has appointed Father Tolentino as our Pastor here at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church and Our Lady of Fatima Chapel, effective July 1, 2022. He will also serve as Chaplain for the Stella Maris Seafarer’s Center in Lake Charles and Chaplain of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.
