Tornado Watch issued for our area
March 22, 2022
LA 665 Bridge in Lafourche Parish Closed Until Further Notice
March 22, 2022
Bishop Fabre has served in the Houma area since 2013 and has served with an open heart. Recently being called to serve as Archbishop, he told the Times he continues to go where God leads him and does so with full trust and confidence.
Shelton J. Fabre was ordained a Deacon on December 10, 1988, by Archbishop Peter L. Gerety at St. Jan-de-Doperkerk in Leuven, Belgium. He was later ordained a Priest on Saturday, August 5, 1989, by Bishop Stanley J. Ott at St. Joseph Cathedral in Baton Rouge, LA. He was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of New Orleans by Pope Benedict XVI on December 13, 2006, and ordained an Auxiliary Bishop of New Orleans by Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes at the Cathedral-Basilica of St. Louis, King of France, in New Orleans, LA, on February 28, 2007.
He was later appointed the Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux, September 23, 2013, and installed Bishop of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, Cathedral of St. Francis de Sales, Houma, LA, October 30, 2013. He has graciously and wholeheartedly served our area since then until he was called to serve as Archbishop in Louisville, Kentucky which he said will be a big transition for him.
“The future is never certain,” he said, “The only way I manage my concerns about the future is to remember God’s fidelity in the past.” He said it does not mean it is necessarily easy, but the Lord has been faithful, which he remembers when it comes to his concerns. “I think it’s respecting it and recognizing that it’s something significant and I’m not taking it lightly. In regards to my own concerns, I try to remember the Lord’s faithfulness to me in the past and face the future with confidence knowing that He will be there,” he said.
He said he would have never thought his appointment to Archbishop is where his path would be led. He said he was happy and fulfilled as a priest and would have joyfully spent his life serving as a priest. “The Lord called me to something else, the path I would not have chosen, but I believe the Spirit speaks through the church…sometimes God calls us in directions that we would not choose or in a direction that we don’t really want to go, but that is the call of the Lord, so no I would have never imagined this,” he said. His obedience is unwavering as he said he does not want to selfishly do what he wants to do, but rather what the Lord wishes him to do to the best of his ability.
Although obedience to the Lord is hard to do as a human being, he reassured us as people cannot do it on our own and he’s fully convinced that the Lord asks nothing of us that He does not give us the grace to help us accomplish, “The Lord is asking us to do something and he’s also supplying us with the grace to be able to accomplish it,” he said.
Serving in ministry in the bayou region has been memorable for Bishop Fabre, “I’ve loved ministering here. I’ve loved being with the people,” he said, “I’ve enjoyed Mardi Gras and all of the Louisiana seasons, whatever they are, whether it’s crawfish season, gumbo season… I mostly enjoyed being a part of the lives of the people and I’m grateful that they allowed me to be a part of their lives. He said just as there are happy memories, there are memories of challenging times such as COVID and Ida. “It wasn’t only about the challenges, but how people rose to meet those challenges,” he said, “How the people, our priests, the Catholic Charities rose to meet the challenges and continue to rise up to meet them.” He said he will always remember how the people resiliently responded to challenges and how the community continues to meet challenges together. He happily said he will carry everything he has learned in the community with him, “The joy of life that is here and the importance of the family that is here. I take all of that with me, and the recipes. But everything that I learned here I carry with me.”
In the Catholic Religion, there are only 34 active Archbishops. Of those, according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, there are six Cardinal Bishops currently leading U.S. Archdioceses and three U.S. Cardinal Bishops that are serving in other capacities. Being that Bishop Fabre is young, there is a possibility of being called as a Cardinal Bishop, however, he said he doesn’t aspire to be, he only wants to do what the Lord wants him to do, “He has called me to this and I will give my life there. If that is where the Lord tells me to live the rest of my life, however long it is, I’m fine with that. If the Lord calls me to do something else, so be His will,” he said. Bishop Fabre said he will give himself completely to Louisville since that is where God has called him to be. He said he going to Louisville with the thought that he will spend the rest of his life there, just like he thought he was going to spend the rest of his life in Houma/Thibodaux. “I think that way so it can really become home for me. I just want to do God’s will and I’m focusing on Louisville now. Whatever God calls me to do next, I leave that up to Him and I don’t worry about it,” he said confidently.
He expressed with great pride that he will miss his home in Louisiana. “I express to them great gratitude because they taught me a lot about faith and about resilience and getting through tough times,” he said. He said he learned a great deal such as how to follow Jesus Christ when you live in the area and how Christ comes to you, “I’m deeply grateful for EVERYTHING that they taught me about life and faith, and I only hope that they learned something from me because I learned a lot from them. I have received FAR more than I have given. I gave myself, and people gave themselves in service to the church, and I am deeply grateful,” he said.
In times of concerns and challenges, he said he is devoted to the Rosary which takes us through the life of Jesus Christ. He said it is a reminder of how faithful Jesus was to the Father and to us during his life and that we are called to that same fidelity. “I find great peace, solace, and comfort in the Rosary. I pray this the most and leave everything up to the Lord,” he said.
Although he obediently follows where God takes him, he expressed that leaving Louisiana will be a big transition for him, “I ask people to pray for me. I certainly will benefit from their prayers because Lord knows I need them. It’s a big transition. I’ve never lived permanently outside of Louisiana, I’ve studied four years in Belgium, but I always knew I was coming back home. This is like really leaving the Diocese of Houma Thibodaux and leaving Louisiana. So I ask people to pray for me during this time of transition.”
He said words of gratitude do not completely convey the gratitude he has to the community, ”Keep on being the wonderful people that you are. Keep following the Lord and keep doing what you’re doing; growing, changing, and becoming the disciples that Jesus Christ calls you to be and I have no doubt that the people and the church will do very well. Thank you and I hope God fills you with promise and peace.” Thank you, Bishop Fabre, for being the leader of the area with an open heart, a love for people, and for your servitude.
The Mass of Canonical Installation of Bishop Fabre as the fifth Archbishop of Louisville will take place Wednesday, March 30th at 1:00 p.m. Central Time. The Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux will update their Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for a live stream link to the installation, and the Archdiocese of Louisville will post a live stream on Facebook and Youtube.
