An alumnus of the Holy Trinity Class of 1978, Bishop Deshotel was ordained on May 13, 1978, to the priesthood for the Diocese of Dallas in his hometown church of St. Augustine in Basile, LA
On April 27, 2010, he was ordained as Auxiliary Bishop of Dallas by Bishop Kevin J. Farrell in the Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
Bishop Deshotel’s assignments have included associate pastor and pastor of various parishes throughout the Diocese of Dallas, as well as Vice Rector of Holy Trinity Seminary. Additionally, he has served on the Diocesan Presbyteral Council; Diocesan Priests’ Personnel Board; Diocesan Finance Council; Bishop’s Senior Staff; Diocesan Review Board; Diocesan College of Consultors; and as Region X Chairman, USCCB.
On February 17, 2016, Bishop Deshotel was appointed to serve as the seventh Bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette. He was installed on April 15, 2016, at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Lafayette, LA.
Bishop Deshotel currently serves as Chaplain of the Lafayette-Acadiana chapter of Legatus and has served in leadership roles in a number of statewide and community organizations, including the Evangeline Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, the Lafayette Senior Pastors Alliance, the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Louisiana Interchurch Conference and the Task Force on Pastoral Ministry for the USSCB. He has been a member of the Knights of Columbus since 1980, where he joined at St. Anthony Catholic Church in Longview, Texas. His investiture into the Order of the Fleur de Lis and the Louisiana District of the Knights of Columbus as Knight Commander’s Cross of the Order was held on October 4, 2023, at the Immaculata Chapel in Lafayette.