A beloved Louisiana Catholic priest was killed Wednesday afternoon after a wreck on a stretch of Mississippi interstate.

The Rev. Mark Beard,  the pastor at St. Helena Catholic Church in Amite, Louisiana, died in the wreck just north of the Mississippi-Louisiana state line on Interstate 55.

According to reports, the wreck happened at approximately 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 2.

The Mississippi Highway Patrol reports that Beard was driving south on I-55 when his vehicle went off the roadway, hit a median and ran into a culvert. The vehicle Beard was driving then reportedly overturned.

A Baton Rouge native, Beard was a graduate of Catholic High and went to Louisiana State University for college. Beard later became a priest and has as been described by friends and parishioners as an incredible person doing incredible work in the church.