HOUMA, La. — Pope Francis appointed Bishop Shelton Fabre as head of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, La., Monday, and he accepted the resignation of Bishop Sam Jacobs, who had turned 75 in March.
Bishop Fabre will be installed as bishop of Houma-Thibodaux on Oct. 30.
He was born in 1963 in New Road, La., and after high school, he entered seminary for the Diocese of Baton Rouge. He studied at Saint Joseph Seminary College in Louisiana, and then he received a master’s degree in religious studies from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium.
Bishop Fabre was ordained a priest in 1989. He served at several parishes, headed the diocesan black Catholic office and served in the tribunal. He was then appointed auxiliary bishop of New Orleans and consecrated on Feb. 28, 2007.
Bishop Jacobs, who is Bishop Fabre's predecessor, headed the diocese since 2003.
The Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux covers 3,400 square miles in southeast Louisiana, and it is home to some 120,000 Catholics, who make up 59% of the local population.
“Bishop Fabre, for me, has been a true brother in ministry,” said Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans “He has been a great co-worker in the ministry of this archdiocese, and I have a great deal of respect for him and for the way in which he lives out his ministry as a bishop.”
Archbishop Aymond said he would miss Bishop Fabre, who had served as the auxiliary bishop of New Orleans since 2007.
The archbishop added, “At the same time, the people of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux are very blessed to receive a loving and gentle shepherd who will walk with them and lead them in the ways of Christ.”