Shelton Joseph Fabre is an American Catholic prelate who has served as Archbishop of Louisville since 2022. He previously served as Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux from 2013 to 2022 and as auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of New Orleans from 2007 to 2013.
Fabre then continued his formation at the American College of Louvain in Belgium, also studying at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in religious studies in 1987 and a Master of Arts in religious studies degree in 1989. Fabre was ordained a deacon on December 10, 1988, by Archbishop Peter Gerety at the Louvain university church.
After his 1989 ordination, the diocese assigned Fabre as assistant pastor of the following parishes:
Fabre was later named as pastor at both St. Joseph Parish in Grosse Tete, Louisiana, and Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Maringouin, Louisiana. In 2004, Fabre became pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Baton Rouge.
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). Fabre was elected to serve on the diocesan clergy personnel board and served as chair of the Pastoral Planning Committee of the diocese. At various times, he took on the roles of chaplain to St. Joseph's Academy and served as deanery of the Northwest Deanery. Fabre also served as a member of the college of consultors, the presbyteral council, and the diocesan school board.
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 1950s and 1960s by nuns, priests and other staff members at Hope Haven and Madonna Manor, two Catholic homes for troubled youth in the archdiocese. Fabre held the meetings to apologize for their treatment.
On May 4, 2018, Fabre was elected chair of the Ad-Hoc Committee against Racism of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. On November 6, 2018, Fabre released "Open Wide our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love", a pastoral letter addressing racism in the United States and the Catholic response to it.
On January 11, 2019, Fabre released a list of 14 priests in the diocese with credible accusations of sexual abuse against minors. The list went back to 1977, the founding of the diocese.
Priesthood
Auxiliary Bishop of New Orleans
Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux
Archbishop of Louisville
Personal life
See also
External links
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