Rejoicing in Houma-Thibodaux; we have a new Bishop!

 

Pope Leo XIV Appoints Father Simon Peter Engurait as Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Reverend Simon Peter Engurait, a priest of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux and current diocesan administrator, as the Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux.

WASHINGTON – Pope Leo XIV has appointed Reverend Simon Peter Engurait, a priest of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux and current diocesan administrator, as the Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux.

The appointment was publicized in Washington, D.C. on June 5, 2025, by Monsignor Većeslav Tumir, chargé d’ affaires, a.i., of the Apostolic Nunciature, in the temporary absence of Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

The following biographical information for Bishop-elect Engurait was drawn from preliminary materials provided to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops:

Father Engurait was born on August 28, 1971, in Ngora, Uganda. He attended St. Peter’s College in Tororo, Uganda, and studied at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, Louisiana. He received a bachlor’s degree at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda (1995), a Master of Divinity from Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, Louisiana (2013) and a Master of Business Administration at Maastricht School of Management in The Netherlands (1999). He was ordained to the priesthood on May 25, 2013.

Father Engurait’s assignments after ordination include parochial vicar at the Cathedral of Saint Francis de Sales in Houma (2013-2015), Saint Genevieve parish in Thibodaux (2015-2016), and Christ the Redeemer parish in Thibodaux (2016-2017). He has served as pastor of Saint Bridget parish in Schriever since 2017. 

Bishop-elect Engurait has also served as the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux’s vicar general (2017-2024), and as moderator of the curia since 2016. He has served as the Diocesan Administrator since 2024. He speaks English, Ateso, Kishwahili, and Spanish.

The Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux is comprised of 3,500 square miles in the State of Louisiana, and has a total population of 257,548, of which 75,761, are Catholic. 

Final farewells offered for Bishop Mario Dorsonville

 

Late bishop remembered for serving God and those in need

by OSV News

 

February 7, 2024

 

BETHESDA, Md. (OSV News) — The recent passing of Bishop Mario E. Dorsonville, a former Washington auxiliary who had headed the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana, for just under a year, has filled many with great sadness but also with much gratitude for his life and ministry.

Washington Auxiliary Bishop Evelio Menjivar said these words in his homily at a Feb. 2 memorial Mass for the late bishop at a Washington suburban Catholic church where he once served.

“We are filled with a great sense of sadness, but at the same time, our hearts are filled with gratitude for the many ways God showed his love, mercy and closeness through the life and fruitful ministry of our beloved bishop and friend Mario Dorsonville,” he said.

Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory was the main celebrant at the Mass celebrated at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Bethesda, where then-Father Dorsonville served as a parochial vicar from 1997 to 2004 in his first assignment in the Archdiocese of Washington.

The concelebrants included Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl, retired archbishop of Washington; Cardinal Christophe Pierre, papal nuncio; Washington Auxiliary Bishops Roy E. Campbell Jr., Juan R. Esposito and Menjivar; and many area priests.

Bishop was a good and faithful servant

Bishop Dorsonville died unexpectedly late Jan. 19 due to complications related to liver disease discovered late last year. He was 63.

He was installed as the fifth bishop of Houma-Thibodaux March 29, 2023. Prior to that, he was an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Washington for eight years.

Born and educated in his native Colombia and ordained to the priesthood there in 1985, he came to the United States to study at The Catholic University of America in Washington, where he earned a doctorate in ministry in 1996.

In the Washington area, he served Catholics in international organizations and was a parochial vicar at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Bethesda from 1997 to 2004 and then at St. Mark the Evangelist Parish in Hyattsville from 2004-05. Then-Father Dorsonville, who was incardinated as a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington in 1999, served as director of the Spanish Catholic Center from 2005-13 and as Catholic Charities’ vice president for mission from 2013-15, when he was ordained as an auxiliary bishop of Washington.

A funeral Mass for Bishop Dorsonville was concelebrated by several archbishops and bishops from around the country Feb. 1 at St. Joseph’s Co-Cathedral in Thibodaux, followed by burial on the grounds of the co-cathedral.

In his homily, Bishop Menjivar described the late bishop as a good and faithful servant, who felt very welcome in the United States and who put a lot of energy into the archdiocese’s Walk with Mary procession and Mass honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe as the patroness of America. Then-Bishop Dorsonville established the annual procession and chose its name. “For him it was a walk of solidarity with the immigrants and an opportunity to evangelize. He was contagious with his enthusiasm,” Bishop Menjivar said.

A light in the darkness

Bishop Menjivar recalled Bishop Dorsonville saying, “I was thirsty and I found someone who gave me to drink… I have seen so many thirsty faces that remind me of myself and in them I see Jesus,” and he believes that mindset probably shaped the late bishop’s concern and commitment to caring for those who have been forced to leave their homeland in search of a better and safer life.

He noted how the late bishop was a tireless advocate for Dreamers, immigrants who came to the United States with their families at a young age and who are seeking educational opportunities and a pathway to citizenship. Bishop Dorsonville, he said, saw those young people as the future of the Church and the nation. The late bishop, he added, said that a refugee is a child of God and of the Church and should be seen as God’s smile to the world.

“No wonder he was chosen by the nation’s bishops to be their leading voice on migration issues as chairman of the USCCB (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops) Committee on Migration. And what a voice!” said Bishop Menjivar.

Bishop Dorsonville, he said, was not just a candle lit in the darkness but a torch that illuminated the way forward for people.

Bishop Menjivar explained that much of the late bishop’s ministry centered on community outreach, advocacy and pastoral care to the poor and newcomers, especially from 2005-13 in his leadership of the archdiocese’s Spanish Catholic Center.

“He struggled to keep these vital services active for the community. He loved the clients and most of all he loved the employees of Catholic Charities for whom he had tremendous respect, considered them his family and was always grateful,” he said of the man who became that organization’s vice president for mission.

Bishop Dorsonville built a strong network of donors and volunteers to support the Spanish Catholic Center, raising more than one-half million dollars a year for its outreach, and Bishop Menjivar joked that he was like Robin Hood in his fundraising. “He took from the rich to give to the poor.”

Mass for Bishop Dorsonville

As an auxiliary bishop of Washington, Bishop Dorsonville directed the archdiocese’s Office of Cultural Diversity and Outreach, leading efforts to recognize and celebrate the gifts, richness and importance of the diversity of the family of faith in the Archdiocese of Washington. He also enthusiastically promoted an initiative that provides financial support to Hispanic families for the education of their children in Catholic schools, said Bishop Menjivar, who has inherited these initiatives and asked people for their support in tribute to the late bishop.

He remembered his friend, the late bishop, for his warm and radiant face, smiling with the love of Jesus, and as a compassionate and kind listener who made a difference in people’s lives for the better, giving people the experience of being recognized and feeling loved.

“We now have in heaven a great friend who will continue to enrich our lives with his prayers before God and by seeking Mary’s intercession,” Bishop Menjivar said.

After the Mass, Celia Rivas, coordinator of immigration services at the Hispanic Catholic Center in Gaithersburg, Maryland, who worked closely with Bishop Dorsonville for two decades, recalled him as “a man of deep prayer and faith.”

“Now it is our turn to pray for him to enjoy the gift of eternal life. Mission accomplished Monsignor! Thank you for bringing Christ to our needy,” Rivas told El Pregonero, Washington’s archdiocesan Spanish-language newspaper and website.

At Bishop Dorsonville’s Feb. 1 funeral Mass in Louisiana, Cardinal Wuerl was the homilist and remembered the late prelate as “an energetic, witty and loving pastor, with a spontaneous laugh, a gentle disposition, attentive to the needs of others and a love for his vocation.”

As Washington’s archbishop he had ordained then-Father Dorsonville as an auxiliary bishop in the nation’s capital in 2015.

Cardinal Gregory presided at the final commendation at the funeral Mass. He prayed, “Let us say goodbye to our brother and may our farewell express our affection for him, may it ease our sadness and strengthen our hope. … Hear our prayers and open the gates of paradise to your servant, Bishop Mario, and help those of us who remain to comfort one another with the assurance of faith until we are all reunited in Christ and are with you and our brother forever.”

The sad and shocking news from Houma -Thibodaux; rest in peace Bishop Dorsonville

 

Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux in Louisiana Dies Unexpectedly at 63

Bishop Dorsonville was a tireless advocate for migrants and immigration reform.

Matthew Santucci/CNANationJanuary 20, 2024

Bishop Mario Dorsonville of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux in southeastern Louisiana, whose ecclesial career spanned nearly four decades, died unexpectedly on Friday evening after serving as bishop of the diocese for less than a year. He was 63.

In a statement on Facebook, the vicar general of the diocese, Father Simon Peter Engurait, wrote that the bishop died on Friday evening at 6:50 p.m. CST “after he gave in to complications arising from recent health problems.” 

Bishop Dorsonville was appointed as bishop of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux on Feb. 1, 2023, and was installed on March 29, succeeding Bishop Shelton J. Fabre.

Father Engurait said it was “with great sadness and deep shock” that he made the announcement of Dorsonville’s passing. “My heart is broken as I make this news to you as this is not the kind of message any one of us would expect to receive.” Engurait asked for patience from the flock “as we begin to navigate through these uncertain moments” and called for prayers for the bishop.

My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, It is with great sadness and deep shock that I announce to you that our...

Posted by Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux on Friday, January 19, 2024

Mario Eduardo Dorsonville was born on Oct. 30, 1960, in Bogotá, Colombia, and was the only child of Leonor M. Rodríguez and Carlos J. Dorsonville.

Bishop Dorsonville undertook his studies for the priesthood at the Theological Seminary of Bogotá, where he received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and a second bachelor’s degree in sacred theology. He was ordained to the priesthood on Nov. 23, 1985, in Bogotá.

During his early ministry he served in a variety of roles, including as parochial vicar of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Bogotá, chaplain of the National University of Colombia, pastor of San Jose de Calasanz Parish in Bogotá, and professor of ethics at the National University of Colombia.

He continued his theological studies at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, earning a licentiate in sacred theology in 1991.

Following the completion of his doctorate in ministry at the The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., in 1995, he served in various roles in Arlington, Virginia, including as parochial vicar of Good Shepherd and Christ the Redeemer parishes and as a professor at the Hispanic Apostolate of Arlington from 1993–1994. He was also a lecturer at the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, D.C.

Father Dorsonville decided to permanently reside in the United States and was incardinated into the Archdiocese of Washington in 1999.

He held other positions including as vice president for mission of Catholic Charities of Washington and director of the Spanish Catholic Center, and he was adjunct spiritual director for St. John Paul II Seminary in Washington, D.C.

He was also a member of the priest council of the Archdiocese of Washington and a member of the College of Consultors of the archdiocese. From 2010–2011, he was a mentor for newly ordained priests for the archdiocese.

Pope Francis named Father Dorsonville as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Washington on March 20, 2015. He was ordained to the episcopate a month later at the Cathedral of St. Matthew by the former archbishop of the diocese, Cardinal Donald Wuerl.

Bishop Dorsonville was a tireless advocate for migrants and immigration reform. In 2020, the Colombian-American prelate, who previously served as chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Migration along with Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, former president of the USCCB, urged the Trump administration to reinstate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

The program, which started in 2012 during the Obama administration, allowed for certain immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children to apply for a delay of deportation, where they could also receive a work authorization, despite a recent decision by the Supreme Court.

“Many [dreamers] were brought to this country as infants and young children, and they have grown up in our schools and parishes and now are making important contributions in the Church and in almost every area of American life,” the bishops said in a joint statement.

Bishop Dorsonville was active in calling on the Biden administration to continue prioritizing immigration reform, both on the executive level and through bipartisan congressional legislation.

On Oct. 8, 2021, the Biden administration increased the refugee cap for fiscal year 2022 to 125,000, the highest the figure has been since 1993.

“Whether fleeing war, natural disaster, or persecution, the positive contributions of refugees to our society have been well documented,” Bishop Dorsonville said at the time. “First and foremost, however, we recognize them as vulnerable members of the same human family to which we ourselves belong.”

Let's meet the new Bishop for Houma-Thibodaux

 

Auxiliary Bishops

Bishop Mario E. Dorsonville

Mario E. Dorsonville was born October 31, 1960 in Bogotá, Colombia, the only child of Leonor M. Rodríguez and Carlos J. Dorsonville. He attended the Major Seminary of the Archdiocese of Bogotá, receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy in 1981 and a Bachelor’s degree in Sacred Theology in 1985. He was ordained to the priesthood on November 23, 1985 in Bogotá. Following ordination, he served as Parochial Vicar of Immaculate Heart of Mary parish, Bogotá (1986), Pastor of San Jose de Calasanz parish, Bogotá (1987-1991), Associate Chaplain (1988-1991) and Professor of Business Ethics (1990-1991) at the National University of Colombia, Bogotá.

Bishop Dorsonville received a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana de Bogotá in 1991 and a Doctorate in Ministry from The Catholic University of America in 1996. From 1992-1994, while studying at Catholic University, he assisted the Hispanic community on weekends at Good Shepherd and Christ the Redeemer parishes in Arlington, Virginia, and served as a lecturer at the Inter-American Development Bank Headquarters in Washington, D.C. He served as Professor of Theology and Catechesis at the Institute for Hispanic Pastoral Studies of Arlington from 1993-1994. He returned briefly to Colombia to serve as Chaplain and Professor of Business Ethics to the National University of Colombia and Professor of Pastoral Counseling and Catechesis at the Major Seminary of the Archdiocese of Bogotá from 1995-1996.

His first appointment within the Archdiocese of Washington was as Parochial Vicar of Our Lady of Lourdes parish in Bethesda, Maryland (1997-2004). He also served as Parochial Vicar of St. Mark the Evangelist parish in Hyattsville, Maryland (2004-2005) and he was a member of the Board of Directors for Carroll Publishing Company from 2001-2004.

Bishop Dorsonville served as Vice President of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington and Director of The Spanish Catholic Center from 2005 to 2015. He completed an Executive Certificate in Non-Profit Management at Georgetown University in 2009. He was also an Adjunct Spiritual Director of St. John Paul II Seminary in Washington, D.C., as well as a mentor for newly ordained priests (2011-2015).

He was named an Auxiliary Bishop for the Archdiocese of Washington by Pope Francis on March 20, 2015 and ordained to the episcopate on April 20, 2015. He has served as Vicar General for the Archdiocese of Washington since 2015. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Maryland Catholic Conference and was a member of the Board of Directors of Catholic Charities (2015 to 2021). He has been a member of the Council of Priests for the Archdiocese of Washington since 2006, and a member of its College of Consultors since 2011. Bishop Dorsonville was the chairman for the Migration and Refugee Services Committee for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (2019-2022). Currently, he serves as a member of their Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, Committee on Migration, Committee for Religious Liberty, and the Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism.

A new Bishop for Houma-Thibodaux Diocese in south Louisiana

 

Pope Francis Appoints Bishop Mario Dorsonville as Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux

Pope Francis has appointed Most Reverend Mario E. Dorsonville, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Washington, as Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux.

February 1, 2023

WASHINGTON - Pope Francis has appointed Most Reverend Mario E. Dorsonville, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Washington, as Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux. The appointment was publicized in Washington, D.C. on February 1, 2023, by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

The biography for Bishop Dorsonville may be found here.

The Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux is comprised of 3,500 square miles in the State of Louisiana and has a total population of 257,423 of which 81,512 are Catholic.

The story of a little church in Louisiana full of hope even after Hurricane Ida

 

For churches hit by disasters, Easter brings promise of hope

LOUISIANA

The windows at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic church were blown out, and its ceiling, sacristy and vestibule crumbled after Hurricane Ida blasted ashore in August, hitting the small fishing community of Point-aux-Chenes, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) southwest of New Orleans.

Since then, its pastor, the Rev. Rajasekar Karumelnathan, has celebrated Mass in the rectory and under a tent in the parking lot. Attendance dwindled after the storm: from about 80 people who used to attend Sunday services to about 15 now.

Celebrating Christmas under the ruins was especially emotional for the congregation, the pastor said. But he expects a lighter mood for their first, post-Ida Easter service, with its promise of eternal life.

“We have lots of hope,” he said. “Easter strengthens us.”

Parishioner Teddy Neal, who lives a half mile from the church, is still rebuilding his storm-damaged home. He would love to see his church and home restored.

“I see Easter as a new beginning,” said Neal, a truck driver. “I’m pretty much humbled, where it doesn’t matter what the conditions are -- as long as I’m present with Jesus during the Eucharist.”

The installation Mass of Archbishop Shelton Fabre in Louisville

 Historic installation of Archbishop Shelton Joseph Fabre heralded as ‘a new era’ for the Catholic church

By Stephanie Wolf

The Archdiocese of Louisville has a new archbishop.

Archbishop Shelton Joseph Fabre was installed Wednesday during a Catholic Mass held at the Kentucky International Convention Center.

Self-proclaimed “cradle Catholics” Larry and Louise Michalczyk showed up early to the service to witness what they called a historic moment in the city. 

“I think this is the start of a new beginning for the Catholic Church here in Louisville,” Larry Michalczky said. 

He pointed to Fabre’s history of elevating racial justice in his ecclesiastical work.

“And I think that’s particularly pertinent here in Louisville at this time,” Larry Michalczyk, who is white, said. “So he brings a new fresh face, new leadership and new experiences.”

Louise Michalczyk, who is also white, said he’ll face some immense challenges, “undoing some of the damage that has been done, within the church, within the diocese and within the community as well.” 

“We need a fresh start here in the community,” she said.

Fabre accepted his duty to lead the Archdiocese of Louisville “with the love of God in my heart.”

Pope Francis appointed Fabre to the post earlier this year. He’s the Archdiocese of Louisville’s fifth archbishop, its 10th bishop and the area’s first Black leader of the local archdiocese, which encompasses 24 Kentucky counties and more than 200,000 parishioners, in its more than 210-year history. 

Fabre, 58, came to Louisville from his home state of Louisiana, where he had been the bishop of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux since late 2013. 

According to his biography on the Archdiocese of Louisville’s website, Fabre studied at the American College of Louvain and the Katholieke Universiteit te Leuven in Belgium. He was ordained as a priest in the Diocese of Baton Rouge in 1989. 

Fabre succeeded Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, who had held the title since 2007 and retired in August on his 75th birthday.

A ‘message of joyful hope’

During a press conference in early February announcing Fabre’s appointment, Kurtz said the area parishes are “getting someone who is a deeply human person, a very healthy person, a holy man and, in a special way, a good pastoral bishop.”

“I’m both humbled and excited by this appointment by the Holy Father, and I pledge to serve the needs of this church to the very best of my ability,” Fabre said during that same press conference.

In March 2020, then-Archbishop Kurtz invited Fabre to give a virtual presentation of “Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love.” Members of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism, of which Fabre serves as chair, penned the anti-racism letter. It states that racism continues to have significant and harmful impacts on society, and it “has no place in the Christian heart.”

“While I recognize that our community has faced, what some may say, is far too great an experience of injustice and disregard for human life and dignity, I come to you with a message of joyful hope,” Fabre said during the February press conference. “I have great faith and great hope in the work already underway within our community regarding racial equality.”

He expressed a conviction that working together will help the local Catholic community in attaining “the promotion of life, charity, justice and peace as we endeavor to build an even greater civilization of love.”

Uniting the region’s Catholic community

Fabre will have his work cut out for him. 

In the months leading up to his appointment, local Black Catholics demanded that the archdiocese and archbishop do more to address the treatment of three parishes in Louisville’s West End. 

“Repeatedly, our assigned Black priest has shown disregard for our voices in managing and leading our congregations,” several parishioners wrote in an opinion column in the Courier Journal in November. 

They said Catholic leadership in the area had failed them on a number of levels, including not addressing concerns about mismanagement of funds and pervasive mistreatment from church leadership.

“Is it too harsh to label this racism?” the parishioners wrote. “No. It is the truth. Do we Black Catholics in struggling, small parishes in marginalized neighborhoods count as much as white Catholics in parishes with corporate and professional parishioners holding country club memberships and living in East End McMansions with four-car garages?”

Upon his appointment as archbishop, Fabre said he hopes Black Catholics in the archdiocese’s region, “will see in me someone who looks like them.” 

“Someone who knows them and wishes to speak with them,” he continued. “Someone who was sent here to serve all members of the archdiocese.”

That gives parishioners, like lifelong Catholic Lisa Johnson of Bardstown, hope.

Johnson, who is Black, said Fabre seems like someone who will listen, “someone who’s going to be available and approachable.” 

“And I think that’s the first step because that opens up the dialogue and opens up that opportunity to improve,” she said.

She was excited to be in attendance Wednesday, and said, “coming from a multicultural church,” the moment felt historic. 

“I know he’s well equipped,” Johnson said. “And I’m excited to see what he’s going to do.”

During his sermon Wednesday, Fabre said the local Catholic community is confronted with many unknowns and challenges, encouraging the attendees to “look to Christ” for hope. 

“We together face the challenges of COVID-19, the effects of past hurts and injustices, and the disregard of human life and dignity through racism,” he said.

He continued that he believes the Archdiocese of Louisville is its people, and that’s why they should face challenges, like racism, as a community. 

“We stand on the precipice of an exciting future,” Fabre said Wednesday. “However, the future will largely be determined by us standing together and keeping our eyes focused on Him, who unites us, rather than on the things that divide us.”

Fabre also noted other challenges he sees the church facing, including “aggressive secularism, assaults on religious freedom, the reality of poverty, and the need for healing the woundedness of marriage and family life.” 

Members of Louisville’s LGBTQ Catholic community have voiced concern over Fabre’s record of speaking against same-sex marriage.

In 2015, Fabre told a Louisiana newspaper that the church believes same-sex marriage is harmful to society, and advised against Catholics attending same-sex ceremonies or providing services for them.

And in early 2021, he put his name on a statement, along with other Catholic bishops, saying they were concerned by President Joe Biden’s executive order to extend federal sex discrimination protections to include sexual orientation and gender identity. 

“Wednesday’s executive order on ‘sex’ discrimination exceeds the Court’s decision,” the statement said. “It threatens to infringe the rights of people who recognize the truth of sexual difference or who uphold the institution of lifelong marriage between one man and one woman.”

During the February press conference, a reporter asked Fabre if he would welcome LGBTQ community members into the Catholic church. 

“I stand ready, certainly, to meet and to listen,” Fabre responded. “I hope they would find in me someone who is willing to listen to them, someone who is willing to journey with them, someone who is willing to invite them to come to know the Jesus Christ that we know.”

Breaking today: Louisiana Bishop Shelton Fabre to Louisville

 

Bishop Fabre to succeed Abp. Kurtz in Louisville

News: Archdiocese of Louisville

The Pillar

2 hr ago

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Bishop Shelton Fabre will soon be announced as the new Archbishop of Louisville, Kentucky, Church officials in Rome and the archdiocese have told The Pillar.

The announcement of Fabre’s appointment is expected as soon as this week, and will see the bishop succeed Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, who has led the Kentucky archdiocese since 2007.

Fabre has been since 2013  the Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux in his native state of Louisiana. He was previously an auxiliary bishop of New Orleans. 

Fabre, 58, was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Baton Rouge in 1989, having completed his seminary studies in Belgium.

In addition to leading the Houma-Thibodaux diocese, Fabre also chairs the U.S. bishops’ ad hoc committee against racism, and oversaw the release of the USCCB’s 2018 pastoral letter “Open Wide our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love,” which addressed the enduring problems of racism in the United States, and the Catholic response to them.

Sources close to the Congregation for Bishops in Rome told The Pillar that the process for selecting a new archbishop for Louisville had been underway since before Christmas, and that several candidates had been considered for the appointment.

Archbishop Kurtz submitted his resignation, in line with the provisions of canon law, when he turned 75 in August 2021, having already contended with serious health issues during his time in office. In 2019, Kurtz announced he would undergo treatment for bladder cancer and be away from the archdiocese for a period of weeks.

Kurtz is a widely respected figure among the U.S. bishops. He was in 2013 elected as president of the USCCB, and in 2014 elected as a delegate of the U.S. bishops to participate in the meeting of the Synod of Bishops on the family in Rome. 

In November 2021, Kurtz was chosen to lead a day of prayer and retreat for the U.S. bishops’ conference, at the opening of the annual USCCB Fall Assembly in Baltimore. Kurtz was tapped as a unifying figure, after months of public division among the bishops over a proposed document on the Eucharist.

Also in 2021, Kurtz was tapped by the Congregation for Bishops to conduct an investigation into the leadership of Bishop Rick Stika of Knoxville, Tennessee, after several priests in the Knoxville diocese raised concerns about Stika's management. Kurtz, who was previously Knoxville's bishop, sent an assessment of the situation to the Vatican, where next steps concerning Stika are reportedly under discussion.

The Archdiocese of Louisville, home to more than 180,000 Catholics, is also the metropolitan see of the province of Louisville, which includes the Kentucky dioceses of Owensboro, Lexington, and Covington, as well as the Tennessee dioceses of Nashville, Knoxville, and Memphis.

One official close to the congregation told The Pillar that Louisville was considered in Rome a “sensitive” appointment, adding that there had been considerable debate about a slate of candidates before Fabre was finally proposed to the Holy Father for approval.

Louisville became the locus of widespread demonstrations for racial justice following the killing of Breonna Taylor in her own apartment by local police in March 2020. Demonstrations after Taylor’s killing were intensified following the murder of George Floyd two months later in Minneapolis.

As chairman of the USCCB committee against racism, Fabre has been a leading voice among the bishops in acknowledging and combating the problem of racism in American society. 

In March last year, Fabre was invited by Kurtz to address the Louisville archdiocese’s online Archdiocesan Leadership Institute, during which he spoke of the need to “recognize and respond to racism as a life issue.” 

“Racism attacks the human life and dignity of its victims,” Fabre told priests and lay leaders of the archdiocese. “To truly and authentically be pro-life, we must strive to dismantle in our own hearts as well as in society all attacks against the sanctity of life and one such attack is racism.”

For months, speculation has circulated amongst the clergy of the archdiocese about who the next archbishop would be, with Bishop John Stowe of Lexington and Bishop Joseph Bambera of Scranton, Pa., two names commonly mentioned among priests in the region. 

Stowe’s name was also floated by progressive-leaning Catholic commentators as a likely choice to succeed Kurtz. The bishop has become well-known for weighing in on national ecclesial affairs in recent months. In November, shortly before the U.S. bishops met in Baltimore for their annual assembly, Stowe said that expecting his brother bishops to show “real discernment, serious discussion, and prayerful listening” before publishing such a document was “probably unrealistic.” 

Bambera, who chairs the bishops’ committee on ecumenism and inter-religious affairs, has been floated in the past as a candidate for a metropolitan see, and was discussed seriously as a possibility for Louisville, while a Vatican official close to the Congregation for Bishops told The Pillar that Stowe was not considered in Rome a plausible candidate for the job. 

“The focus was on candidates who could foster communion in the archdiocese and the province from the beginning,” the official said. “That was the first concern.”

While Fabre is well-regarded for his work leading the Church in the United States’ engagement on racial justice issues, the bishop has not immersed himself in the minutiae of conference politics, and shown himself willing to work on priority issues with broad coalitions.

While Stowe and Bambera were signatories, Fabre did not sign a controversial letter last year calling for discussion of a document on Eucharistic coherence to be dropped from the agenda of the bishops’ June meeting. 

In 2020, Stowe raised concerns about whether the outside funding of USCCB committees, including the ad hoc committee on racism, might impact the bishops’ work or indicate that the issue was not a priority for the USCCB. The committee’s budget is funded through the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the Black and Indian Missions Office, and the Knights of Columbus.

For his part, Fabre pushed back on the suggestion that committee’s outside funding suggested it was not a priority for the bishops.

The bishop emphasized that “the important thing is that the work is being done…I don’t share, necessarily, all of Bishop Stowe’s concerns, I do know that the bishops have given attention to this, and are dealing with the issue of racism.” 

In recent months, Fabre has placed a pastoral emphasis on hurricane relief, in the wake of Louisiana’s recovery from the devastating September 20201 Hurricane Ida. Fabre urged judges at a recent Red Mass to be merciful to those facing criminal charges amid the elevated stress of hurricane recovery, and urged the Knights of St. Peter Claver, a Black Catholic fraternal society, to coordinate hurricane relief drives around the country.