{{Short description|American bishop}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = | honorific-prefix = His Excellency, The Most Reverend | name = Sam Galip Jacobs | honorific-suffix = | title = Bishop Emeritus of Houma–Thibodaux | image = Sam Jacobs.png | image_size = | alt = | caption = Bishop Jacobs at the 2019 Steubenville<br> Power and Purpose Conference | archdiocese = | diocese = Houma–Thibodaux | appointed = August 1, 2003 | enthroned = October 10, 2003 | retired = September 23, 2013 | predecessor = Charles Michael Jarrell | successor = Shelton Fabre | previous_post = {{bulleted list| Bishop of Alexandria (1989-2003) }} | other_post = <!---------- Orders ----------> | ordination = June 6, 1964 | ordained_by = Warren L. Boudreaux | consecration = August 24, 1989 | consecrated_by = Francis B. Schulte, Warren Louis Boudreaux, and Jude Speyrer <!---------- Personal details ---------->| birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1938|03|04}} | birth_place = Greenwood, Mississippi, US | death_date = | death_place = | buried = | nationality = | alma_mater = | signature = | coat_of_arms = | motto = Jesus is Lord }}
{{Infobox bishopstyles | name= Sam Galip Jacobs | dipstyle= *His Excellency *The Most Reverend | offstyle=Your Excellency | relstyle=Bishop | image = Coat of arms of Sam Joseph Galip Jacobs.svg | image_size = 200px }}
'''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.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Bishop Emeritus Sam G. Jacobs|url=https://htdiocese.org/bishop-jacobs|access-date=2021-11-11|website=Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Bishop Sam Gallip Jacobs, 10th Bishop of Alexandria – Diocese of Alexandria|url=https://www.diocesealex.org/bishop-sam-gallip-jacobs-10th-bishop-of-alexandria/|access-date=2021-11-11|language=en-US}}</ref>
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.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />
=== Priesthood === On June 6, 1964, Jacobs was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Lafayette by Bishop Warren L. Boudreaux.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Bishop Sam Joseph Galip Jacobs [Catholic-Hierarchy] |url=https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bjacobs.html |access-date=2025-10-10 |website=www.catholic-hierarchy.org}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" />
After becoming bishop, Jacobs held town meeting in every parish in the diocese to meet parishioners and hear their concerns. Under Jacobs, the diocese inaugurated the Steubenville South Youth Conference and constructed a new youth center at the Maryhill Renewal Center in Alexandria, to accommodate youth retreats.<ref name=":1" />
A 2002 article by the ''Dallas Morning News'' revealed that in 1998 Jacobs received an allegation of fondling against Reverend John Andries from Natchitoches Parish. Jacobs suspended Andries from ministry and removed him from his parish. However, after Andries received counseling and testing, Jacobs returned him to the same parish. Jacobs did not notify authorities about the accusation.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=May 3, 2003 |title=Priest Pleads Guilty Andries Faces up to 10 Years in Prison |url=https://www.bishop-accountability.org/news3/2003_05_03_Gannett_PriestPleads_John_Andries_4.htm |access-date=2021-11-11 |website=Louisiana Gannett, Daily Town Talk}}</ref> 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 <ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-08-19|title=Two-thirds of bishops let accused priests work, Morning News investigation revealed in 2002|url=https://www.dallasnews.com/news/faith/2018/08/19/two-thirds-of-bishops-let-accused-priests-work-morning-news-investigation-revealed-in-2002/|access-date=2021-11-11|website=Dallas News|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2" />
=== 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.<ref name=":0" />
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.<ref name=":0" />
=== 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.<ref name=":0" />
==See also== {{Portal bar|Biography|Catholicism|United States}} {{div col|colwidth=30em}} * Catholic Church hierarchy * Catholic Church in the United States * Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States * List of Catholic bishops of the United States * Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops {{div col end}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [http://www.htdiocese.org/ Roman Catholic Diocese of Houma–Thibodaux Official Site] * [https://www.usccb.org/evangelization/ Committee for Evangelization] * [http://www.usccb.org/laity/staff.shtml Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth] * [http://www.usccb.org/education/committeecate.shtml Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis]
==Episcopal succession== {{s-start}} {{s-rel|ca}} {{succession box|title=Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux|before=Charles Michael Jarrell|after=Shelton Fabre|years=2003–2013}} {{succession box|title=Bishop of Alexandria|before=John Clement Favalora|after=Ronald Paul Herzog|years=1989–2003}} {{s-end}}
{{Roman Catholic Diocese of Houma–Thibodaux}} {{Roman Catholic Diocese of Alexandria in Louisiana}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobs, Sam}} Category:1938 births Category:Roman Catholic bishops of Alexandria in Louisiana Category:Living people Category:Catholic University of America alumni Category:Catholic Charismatic Renewal Category:20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Category:21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Category:Religious leaders from Mississippi