Most Reverend Shelton Fabre

Louisiana native Shelton Fabre, who attended a Josephite parish, graduated as valedictorian of Catholic High of Pointe Coupée in 1981, subsequently entering St. Joseph Seminary College in St. Benedict, LA. He was then 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.

He was ordained a priest on Aug. 5, 1989, for the Diocese of Baton Rouge. Subsequently, he served the diocese as pastor or parochial vicar of several parishes, as a member of the diocesan Clergy Personnel Board and 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, and Dean of the Northwest Deanery. Fabre also served as a member of the College of Consultors, the Presbyteral Council, and the Diocesan School Board. He served as a Defender of the Bond within the Diocesan Tribunal.

Fabre was ordained an auxiliary bishop on Feb. 28, 2007 for the Archdiocese of New Orleans, and served as Vicar General and as Moderator of the Curia.  In 2013, Pope Francis appointed Fabre as Bishop of the neighboring Houma-Thibodaux diocese, home to approximately 125,000 Catholics. He became one of just a few Black bishops currently serving as head of a diocese.  He is a member of the USCCB Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church and chair of the USCCB Subcommittee for African-American Catholics.