LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Shelton Joseph Fabre was installed Wednesday afternoon as the fifth archbishop of Louisville and the first Black leader in its history. 

A two-hour mass at the Kentucky International Convention Center downtown was attended by several hundred Catholic faithful, who arrived more than an hour before the ceremony to get a seat. The event was live-streamed by www.archlou.org, through the archdiocesan YouTube channel in the player below:

The Installation of Archbishop Fabre will be held on Wednesday, March 30, 2022, at 2 p.m.

The ceremony began with a procession of clergy, bishops and cardinals. The Catholic mass with installation rituals wraps with reception with Fabre meeting the public in the Fourth Street lobby at the KICC.

In his first homily as archbishop of Louisville, Fabre said he's delighted to be here. He put out a call for help, asking people to stand together and focus on what unites people rather than things that divide. 

"We are the Archdiocese of Louisville," Fabre said. "The archdiocese is not a building on Poplar Level Road. The archdiocese is its people. The archdiocese is you and me and all of us together."

Fabre steps into the role to follow Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, who retired after 15 years leading the archdiocese. 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. 

Kurtz told WDRB News he will stay in Louisville but spend time in North Carolina where he has been treated for prostate cancer at the Duke Cancer Center. He is currently cancer-free.

Pope Francis appointed Fabre in February. He is a Louisiana native, who has led the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux in southern Louisiana for nine years. 

"It's a very humbling experience to get to be a part of such a great celebration for our local church," said Elizabeth Jackson, director of music and liturgy at St. Raphael the Archangel in Louisville. "Just from his homily last night, I think he's going to be a great unifier for our local community. He's bringing a sense of comfort and just is going to be a really great, humble shepherd for our Catholic community here."

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.

"As a life-long Black Catholic, I'm super excited to be here with members of my church, St. Augustine Church," Jaison Gardner said Wednesday after the mass at the KICC. "We are the third-oldest Black Catholic church in the nation and so we're super excited to be here to welcome to Louisville and celebrate Archbishop Fabre.

"I think it's so wonderful to have finally a Black archbishop here in Louisville. As I understand it, Archbishop Fabre has a commitment to social justice and racial justice, and, as we all know, Louisville has experience quite a few issues with racial justice over the last couple year. And so I think it'll be wonderful to have a Black religious leader from a Catholic tradition to help lead us in the right direction relating to racial justice, both within the Catholic church but also in the city as a whole."

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.

Fabre is just the second active Black archbishop in America.

Related Stories:

Copyright 2022 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.