Louisiana bishop to be named next Archbishop of Louisville |

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Pope Francis appointed Bishop Shelton Fabre as the fifth Archbishop of Louisville. A native of Louisiana, Fabre has led the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux in southern Louisiana for nine years.

He will succeed Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, who has led the Archdiocese of Louisville since 2007.

The Archdiocese formally welcomed Fabre in a new conference Tuesday morning, and he'll be installed at 2 p.m. March 30 at the Kentucky International Convention Center in downtown Louisville.

Kurtz submitted his resignation in 2021 on his 75th birthday, which is protocol in the Code of Canon Law within the Roman Catholic Church. In the past, bishops had to retire at 75, but Pope Francis changed that rule in 2018. Now, bishops tender a resignation, but the Pope can decide whether it is accepted at the Vatican.

Kurtz served as Archbishop of Louisville for 14 years. In 2019, he underwent treatment for bladder cancer.

"I want to be as much of service to the next archbishop as Archbishop Kelly was to me 14 years ago. And he was good model," Kurtz said in August 2021. "So I had a good model to to emulate, and I hope to be able to do that also."

Fabre (pronounced "Fob") was ordained as a priest in the Diocese of Baton Rouge in 1989 after completing his seminary studies in Belgium. Before taking over the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, Fabre served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New Orleans for seven years before taking over as Bishop of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux

In 2018, he was appointed as chair of the Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Before that, he served as chair of the USCCB's Subcommittee on African American Affairs.

One source told The Pillar that Louisville's vacant position was viewed in Rome as a "sensitive" appointment.

In March 2021, Fabre was invited by Kurtz to speak in Louisville's at the archdiocese's leadership institute. According to a report from the Catholic News Service, Fabre shared with a group of parish leaders, clergy, staff and volunteers six ways to respond to racism.

"We all know that preaching against racism will elicit a response, but we must nonetheless lead our people to a path of goodness, charity, justice and peace," he said, adding that it's necessary to remind people of the "grace available to overcome racism."

If indeed appointed, Fabre would serve as the fifth Archbishop of Louisville, which was elevated to an archdiocese in 1937 by Pope Pius XI.