Background
Fabre, Shelton Joseph was born on October 25, 1963 in New Roads, Louisiana, United States.
Fabre, Shelton Joseph was born on October 25, 1963 in New Roads, Louisiana, United States.
Fabre attended local schools in New Roads for both primary and secondary school, graduating as valedictorian of Catholic High of Pointe Coupée in 1981. Subsequently, he entered Saint Joseph Seminary College in Saint Benedict, Louisiana. After completing his college studies there, he was sent abroad to The American College of Louvain, where he received additional priestly formation while studying at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.
He holds a Master of Arts degree in Religious Studies from that university.
He is a native of Louisiana, having been born in New Roads on 25 October 1963. Bishop Fabre is the second-youngest Catholic bishop in the United States. He was ordained a priest on 5 August 1989 by Bishop Stanley Joseph Ott, for the diocese of Baton Rouge.
Subsequently, he served in a variety of capacities within the diocese, including as pastor of the parishes of Saint Joseph in Grosse Tete, Immaculate Heart of Mary in Maringouin and Sacred Heart of Jesus in Baton Rouge.
He also served as parochial vicar of the parishes of Saint George in Baton Rouge, Saint Alphonsus Liguori in Greenwell Springs, Saint Joseph Cathedral in Baton Rouge, and Saint Isidore the Farmer in Baker. Fabre was elected to serve on the diocesan Clergy Personnel Board and served as chair of the Pastoral Planning Committee of the diocese.
He at various times took on the roles of chaplain to Saint Joseph"s Academy, head of the diocesan Office of Black Catholics, Dean of the Northwest Deanery. He served as a Defender of the Bond within the Diocesan Tribunal.
On 13 December 2006, Fabre was appointed Titular Bishop of Pudentiana and auxiliary bishop of New Orleans by Pope Benedict XVI. He was consecrated as bishop on 28 February 2007 in New Orleans.
In the Archdiocese of New Orleans he served as Vicar General and as Moderator of the Curia. On September 23, 2013, Pope Francis appointed Fabre as the new bishop to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux in Louisiana. He was installed during a Mass at his Cathedral of Saint Francis de Sales on October 30, 2013.
As bishop of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, he leads 125,000 registered Catholics, 39 churches and a number of chapels, missions, and communities.
He also served as a member of the College of Consultors, the Presbyteral Council, and the Diocesan School Board.