Bishop Shelton Fabre

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Bishop Shelton Fabre was introduced Tuesday as the first Black man to lead the Archdiocese of Louisville.

Pope Francis appointed Fabre as the fifth Archbishop of Louisville. A native of Louisiana, Fabre has led the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, just southwest of New Orleans, for eight-and-a-half years.

Fabre, who said his motto is "Comfort My People," will succeed Archbishop Joseph Kurtz after Kurtz announced his retirement last year. Kurtz served as Archbishop of Louisville for 14 years. 

"We are getting someone who is a deeply human person, a very healthy person, a holy man," Kurtz said. "Soon, he will be singing along with 'My Old Kentucky Home.' However, he will also bring some Cajun flavor to his new Kentucky home."

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, he served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New Orleans for seven years.

While speaking Tuesday at the archdiocese's Pastoral Center on Poplar Level Road, Fabre had to pause to wipe tears from his eyes while expressing his "deep, deep gratitude," to all those back in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux.

"I have been incredibly happy and fulfilled as the bishop of Houma-Thibodaux, and I express gratitude to you for the love, the support, kindness you have shown to me during my time with you," he said.

In 2018, Fabre 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.

Fabre said coming to an area that has been fighting racial injustice, he wants to try to heal and bring the community together. He said his mission is, "to get all of us in our racial diversity to understand that we are stronger together, and to recognize that at the very heart of it is a call to respect the human life and human dignity of each and every person."

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 told the group, adding that it's necessary to remind people of the "grace available to overcome racism."

In 2019, Kurtz underwent treatment for bladder cancer. He 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. 

"Archbishop Fabre comes from Louisiana and brings with him such outstanding gifts – a deep love of Jesus Christ, an abiding trust in Jesus’ care for His Church, a listening and very approachable spirit, a strength of character, and a desire to serve the people of God and all people as he humbly relies on the grace of Christ and power of the Holy Spirit," Kurtz said in a news release Tuesday.

Fabre celebrated mass Tuesday morning with Archdiocese of Louisville agency directors and parishioners at Holy Family Church. After being introduced, Fabre said he's trading in his love of king cake and gumbo for a love of Mint Juleps and the Kentucky Derby.

Fabre will officially be installed as archbishop March 30 during a ceremony at the Kentucky International Convention Center in downtown Louisville. He will serve as the 10th bishop in Louisville and the fifth Archbishop of Louisville, which was elevated to an archdiocese in 1937 by Pope Pius XI.

When installed, he'll be just the second active Black archbishop in America.

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