The Holy Father has appointed Bishop Shelton Joseph Fabre of Houma-Thibodaux, as metropolitan archbishop of Louisville. He will replace Archbishop Joseph Edward Kurtz, who is retiring.
Archbishop-elect Shelton Joseph Fabre was born on October 25, 1963, in New Roads, Louisiana, in the diocese of Baton Rouge. He attended Saint Joseph Seminary College in Saint Benedict, Louisiana (1985), and obtained a bachelor’s degree (1985) and master’s degree in religious studies from the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium.
He was ordained a priest on August 5, 1989, for the diocese of Baton Rouge.
After ordination, he held the following offices: parish vicar of the Saint Alphonsus Liguori parish in Greenwell Springs (1989-1992), of the Saint George parish in Baton Rouge (1992-1994), of the Saint Isidore the Farmer Parish in Baker (1994-1995), and of the Saint Joseph Cathedral (1995-1996); director of the Black Catholics pastoral office (1990-2005); defender of the bond at the Tribunal (1994-2006); parish priest of the Saint Joseph parish in Grosse Tête and the Immaculate Heart of Mary parish in Maringouin (1996-2004); parish priest of the Sacred Heart of Jesus parish in Baton Rouge (2004-2007).
He was appointed as titular bishop of Pudenziana and auxiliary of New Orleans on December 13. 2006, and received episcopal consecration on February 28, 2007.
On September 23, 2013, he was transferred to the see of Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana.
“My Dear People of the Archdiocese of Louisville, Good morning, and may God’s peace be with you!” wrote in a message to his new archdiocese. “Please allow me to begin by expressing my gratitude and personal support to our Holy Father, Pope Francis, who today has named me the Tenth Bishop and Fifth Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Louisville. Pope Francis has called me to continue my pastoral ministry here with you, the particular church of Louisville! I am both humbled and excited by this appointment by the Holy Father, and I pledge to serve the needs of this local church to the very best of my ability. In all we do, it is the Lord Jesus Christ we praise and serve as together we grow in faith.”
