Black Catholic News : Special Report ~ {Print Version}
The National Black Catholic Congress
www.nbccongress.org

New Auxiliary Bishop for New Orleans
Father Shelton Fabre Appointed Auxiliary Bishop for New Orleans

The following statement was issued on December 13, 2006, by the Chancery of the Diocese of Baton Rouge, after news of the appointment was released in Rome:

The entire community of the Christian faithful of the Diocese of Baton Rouge rejoices in the decision by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to appoint Father Shelton J. Fabre, a priest of the Diocese of Baton Rouge and pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Church here, to be Titular Bishop of Pudentiana and Auxiliary Bishop of New Orleans.

This announcement was made first in Rome and Washington this morning. The Archdiocese of New Orleans introduces Bishop-elect Fabre at a press conference at 10:00 a.m. later today in New Orleans hosted by its Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes. Bishop-elect Fabre also joins Bishop Robert W. Muench of Baton Rouge at a second press conference to be held at the Catholic Life Center in Baton Rouge at 2:00 p.m. today.

Click here to read Bishop-elect Fabre's initial statement on the occasion of his promotion to the episcopacy as Auxiliary Bishop of New Orleans, and click here to read his followup statement reflecting on his departure from Baton Rouge.

Click here to read the statement released by Bishop Muench as well, and here to read a statement by Father Michael Schatzle, chairman of the Presbyteral Council of the Diocese of Baton Rouge. Click here to read the statement issued by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

Bishop-elect Fabre was born on October 25, 1963, a native of St. Augustine Parish in New Roads, Louisiana. He attend Catholic elementary and high schools there, graduating from Catholic High of Pointe Coupée in 1981 as valedictorian. He was ordained a priest on August 5, 1989, after seminary studies at St. Joseph Seminary College in St. Benedict, Louisiana, and The American College of the Catholic University of Louvain in Leuven, Belgium. He holds a Master of Arts degree in Religious Studies from the Faculty of Theology of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.

He has served in many offices within the Diocese of Baton Rouge, including pastor of the Parishes of St. Joseph in Grosse Tete and Immaculate Heart of Mary in Maringouin, and parochial vicar at St. George Parish in Baton Rouge and St. Alphonsus Liguori Parish in Greenwell Springs. He also served briefly as parochial vicar of St. Joseph Cathedral in Baton Rouge and St. Isidore the Farmer Parish in Baker.

He is a longtime elected member of the Clergy Personnel Board, is at present the chaplain to St. Joseph's Academy, and is chair of the diocesan priests' Pastoral Planning Committee. He has also led the diocesan Office of Black Catholics, served as Dean of the Northwest Deanery, and been a member of the College of Consultors, the Presbyteral Council, and the Diocesan School Board.

More information will be forthcoming concerning Bishop-elect Fabre's ordination to the episcopacy and move to New Orleans. In the meantime, our congratulations and prayers for him are offered, tempered only by the knowledge that he will be missed as a member of our presbyterate.