St. Anthony's roots stretch back to 1877, when Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary was built to serve residents on the west bank of the Mississippi River. Mission chapels were then erected in Luling, Ama and Des Allemands. In 1902, Luling residents began to attend mass in a frame building off of what is now Easy Street. In 1926, the frame building on Easy Street was replaced by a sturdier structure on Ellington Street. The church was still a mission of Holy Rosary until July 1, 1961, when Fr. Gerald Barrett was appointed the first pastor of the newly created parish of St. Anthony of Padua. 

Reverend Anthony Odiong was born in Calabar, Southern Nigeria on the 3rd of September, 1968 to Emmanuel and Sarah Odiong. He is one of seven, but lost a sister, so is now one of six. He is the second son and second of the bunch. He underwent seminary formation in Nigeria and was ordained a priest on November 13, 1993. After ordination he did some pastoral work, taught high school, and also taught philosophy at the regional seminary. In 2006, he was appointed to the Diocese of Austin, Texas at the invitation of Bishop Aymond and was assigned associate pastor at St. Mary’s of the Assumption in the city of West, Texas where he was made an honorary Czech. Thereafter, he was appointed Director of Campus Ministry at St. Peter’s Catholic Student Center at Baylor University in 2008. He served in that capacity till the summer of 2012, when he went to Rome to study for a doctorate degree in Dogmatic Theology. He also holds a Masters in Theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio. He continues to work on his doctorate degree and is happy to be assigned to St. Anthony of Padua in Luling, where he hopes to share in the rich Catholic tradition established in St. Charles Parish since it beginnings.