Shelton Fabre

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

Shelton Joseph Fabre is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, serving as Bishop of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux in Louisiana since 2013. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New Orleans from 2006 to 2013.

Education[]

Fabre was born in New Roads, Louisiana, on October 25 1963.^[1] He attended primary and secondary schools in New Roads, graduating in 1981 as valedictorian of Catholic High School of Pointe Coupée. He then entered Saint Joseph Seminary College in St. Benedict, Louisiana, graduating with a Bachelor of History degree in 1985. ^[2]

After completing his studies at Saint Joseph, Fabre was sent to the American College of Louvain in Leuven, Belgium. He received additional priestly formation there while studying at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Fabre was awarded a Bachelor of Religious Studies degree in 1987 and a Master of Religious Studies degree in 1989 from Katholieke Universiteit.^[3][2] He was ordained a deacon on December 10, 1988 by Archbishop Peter L. Gerety at the Sint Jan-de-Doper Church at the university.^[2]

Priesthood[]

Fabre was ordained a priest on 5 August 1989 by Bishop Stanley Ott for the Diocese of Baton Rouge at St. Joseph Cathedral in Baton Rouge.^[2]

After his ordination, Fabre served as assistant pastor of the parishes of St. Alphonsus Liguori in Greenwell Springs (1989 to 1992), St. George in Baton Rouge (1992 to 1994), St. Isidore the Farmer in Baker (1994 to 1995) and St. Joseph Cathedral Parish (1995 to 1996). He served as pastor at both St. Joseph Parish in Grosse Tete and Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Maringouin. In 2004, Fabre became past of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Baton Rouge. ^[2]

Fabre's diocesan positions during this period were as chaplain at Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola in 1994, Director of the Office of Black Catholics (1990 -2005) and Defender of the Bond for the Marriage Tribunal (1994 to 2007).^[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, Dean of the Northwest Deanery. Fabre also served as a member of the College of Consultors, the Presbyteral Council, and the Diocesan School Board.^{[3] [2]}

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 installed and consecrated by Bishop Alfred Hughes on 28 February 2007 in New Orleans.^[1] As auxiliary bishop, he served as Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia. He also became pastor of Our Lady of the Rosary Parish in New Orleans.^[2]

In October 2009, Fabre met with each of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the archdiocese that had been recently settled for $5 million. The plaintiffs had been beaten and abused in the 1950's and 1960's by nuns, priests and other staff members at Home Haven and Madonna Manor, two Catholic homes for troubled youth. Fabre held the meetings to apologize for their treatment^[4]

Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux[]

On September 23, 2013, Pope Francis appointed Fabre as the Bishop of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux. He was installed at the Cathedral of St. Francis de Sales on October 30, 2013.^[5]

On January 11, 2019, Fabre released a list of 14 priests with credible accusations of sexual abuse against minors. The list went back to 1977, when the diocese are founded.^[6] Fabre added this statement:

Let me be clear: the abuse of a child by anyone is sinful, abhorrent and evil, particularly when perpetrated by one vested with the sacred trust of God’s children. Furthermore, any attempt to cover up these sins is even more disturbing. I apologize to all who have been harmed. It is with deep respect and profound reverence that I humbly extend this apology.^[6]

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops[]

On May 4, 2018, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, announced that Fabre would succeed Bishop George Murry 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 addressing racism issues in the United States and the Catholic response.^[3]

After the murder of George Floyd in 2020, Fabre and other Catholic bishops issued a statement on Floyd's death and the resulting protests. The statement has a special emphasis on the Solemnity of Pentecost:

"...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[]

References[]

External links[]

• Roman Catholic Diocese of Houma–Thibodaux Official Site

Episcopal succession[]