Shelton Fabre

Shelton Joseph Fabre is the bishop the Roman Catholic Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux in the state of Louisiana in the United States of America. He is a native of Louisiana, having been born in New Roads on 25 October 1963.[1]

His Excellency, The Most Reverend Shelton Joseph Fabre
Bishop of Houma–Thibodaux
Archdiocese	New Orleans
Diocese	Houma–Thibodaux
Appointed	September 23, 2013
Installed	October 30, 2013
Predecessor	Sam Jacobs
Orders
Ordination	August 5, 1989 by Stanley Joseph Ott
Consecration	February 28, 2007 by Alfred Clifton Hughes, John Ricard, and Robert William Muench
Personal details
Born	(1963-10-25) October 25, 1963 New Roads, Louisiana
Previous post	Auxiliary Bishop of New Orleans
Motto	COMFORT MY PEOPLE

Styles of Shelton Joseph Fabre
Reference style	His Excellency The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Bishop

Education

Fabre attended local schools in New Roads for both primary and secondary school, graduating as valedictorian of Catholic High of Pointe Coupée in 1981. Subsequently, he entered Saint Joseph Seminary College in St. Benedict, Louisiana. After completing his college studies there, he was sent abroad to The American College of Louvain, where he received additional priestly formation while studying at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. He holds a Master of Arts degree in Religious Studies from that university.[2]

Priest of Baton Rouge

He was ordained a priest on 5 August 1989 by Bishop Stanley Joseph Ott, for the diocese of Baton Rouge. Subsequently, he served in a variety of capacities within the diocese, including as pastor of the parishes of St. Joseph in Grosse Tete, Immaculate Heart of Mary in Maringouin and Sacred Heart of Jesus in Baton Rouge. He also served as parochial vicar of the parishes of St. George in Baton Rouge, St. Alphonsus Liguori in Greenwell Springs, St. Joseph Cathedral in Baton Rouge, and St. Isidore the Farmer in Baker.[2]

Fabre was elected to serve on the diocesan Clergy Personnel Board and served as chair of the Pastoral Planning Committee of the diocese. He at various times took on the roles of chaplain to St. Joseph's Academy, head of the diocesan Office of Black Catholics, Dean of the Northwest Deanery. He also served as a member of the College of Consultors, the Presbyteral Council, and the Diocesan School Board.[2] He served as a Defender of the Bond within the Diocesan Tribunal.

Episcopal career

Auxiliary Bishop of New Orleans

On 13 December 2006, Fabre was appointed Titular Bishop of Pudentiana and auxiliary bishop of New Orleans by Pope Benedict XVI. He was consecrated as bishop on 28 February 2007 in New Orleans.[1] In the Archdiocese of New Orleans he served as Vicar General and as Moderator of the Curia.

Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux

On September 23, 2013, Pope Francis appointed Fabre as the new bishop to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux in Louisiana. He was installed during a Mass at his Cathedral of St. Francis de Sales on October 30, 2013. As bishop of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, he leads 125,000 registered Catholics, 39 churches and a number of chapels, missions, and communities.[3]

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

On May 4, 2018, it was announced by Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, that Fabre would succeed Bishop George Murry, S.J. of the Diocese of Youngstown as the Chair of the Ad-Hoc Committee against racism. On November 6, 2018, Fabre released Open Wide our Hearts, The Enduring Call to Love, a pastoral letter that addresses ongoing racism issues facing the United States and a Catholic's call to response.

In the wake of the death of Mr. George Floyd in Powderhorn, Minneapolis, Michigan, Fabre along with Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez of Philadelphia, chairman of the Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church; Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, chairman of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development; Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City in Kansas, chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities; Bishop Joseph C. Bambera of Scranton, chairman of the Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs; Bishop David G. O’Connell, auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles, chairman of the Subcommittee on the Catholic Campaign for Human Development; and Bishop Joseph N. Perry, auxiliary bishop of Chicago, chairman of the Subcommittee on African American Affairs issued a Statement of U.S. Bishop Chairmen in Wake of Death of George Floyd and National Protests. The Statement had a special emphasis on the Solemnity of Pentecost and the call to "...pray and work toward a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Let us pray for a supernatural desire to rid ourselves of the harm that bias and prejudice cause. We call upon Catholics to pray to the Holy Spirit for the Spirit of Truth to touch the hearts of all in the United States and to come down upon our criminal justice and law enforcement systems. Finally, let each and every Catholic, regardless of their ethnicity, beg God to heal our deeply broken view of each other, as well as our deeply broken society."

See also

• 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

References

1. "Bishop Shelton Joseph Fabre". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2007-04-19.
2. "Special Report". National Black Catholic Congress. Archived from the original on 2007-02-06. Retrieved 2007-04-19.
3. Fabre, Shelton. "Pope names new bishop for Houma-Thibodaux". The Houma Courier. Retrieved 24 September 2013.

External links

• Roman Catholic Diocese of Houma–Thibodaux Official Site

Episcopal succession

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Sam Jacobs	Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux 2013—Present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Roger Paul Morin	Auxiliary Bishop of New Orleans 2006–2013	Succeeded by Fernand J. Cheri