Record Staff Report
Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre will be installed as the 10th Bishop and fifth Archbishop of Louisville at the Kentucky International Convention Center in downtown Louisville at 2 p.m. today
Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre was born October 25, 1963, in New Roads, La. He attended Catholic High School of Pointe Coupee and graduated as valedictorian, the first African American at the school to do so.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in history from St. Joseph Seminary-College in St. Benedict, La., in 1985.
From there, he attended Catholic University of Louvain in Leuven, Belgium, where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in religious studies.
During his time at Catholic University, Archbishop Fabre was ordained a deacon, a transitional step on the path to priesthood, in 1988.
Upon his return to the U.S., he was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Baton Rouge, La.
As a priest, he served as the associate pastor of four parishes and pastor of three parishes.
In February 2007, Archbishop Fabre was ordained an Auxiliary Bishop of New Orleans.
In October 2013, he was installed as the Bishop of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux in southern Louisiana, some 60 miles southwest of New Orleans.
And on March 30, 2022, he was installed as the fifth Archbishop of Louisville and the 10th bishop.
As a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, he has served on various committees, including the Subcommittee for African-American Affairs and the Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church.
He currently serves as chair of the Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism. He also oversaw the drafting and implementation of the bishops’ pastoral letter against racism, “Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love.”
From 1990 to 2005, Archbishop Fabre served as the director of the Office of Black Catholics and 13 years as a Defender of the Bond for the Marriage Tribunal, both in the Diocese of Baton Rouge.
Also during his time in the Diocese of Baton Rouge, he served on the Diocesan School Board, the Clergy Personnel Board, the Pastoral Planning Committee as chairman, the College of Consultors and the Priest Council, as well as the Dean of the Northwest Deanery.
Archbishop Fabre is a member of both the Knights of Columbus and the Knights of St. Peter Claver.
Currently, he serves on the board of Catholic Relief Services and as a consultant to the USCCB’s Pro-Life Committee.
In 1994, he spent four months as the Catholic Chaplain to Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola and in 2006 he graduated from an FBI Baton Rouge Citizens Academy.
Hearty congratulations to Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre. God bless.