We will give thanks for Bishop Fabre’s ministry

    Now that Bishop Shelton Fabre has been named the fourth bishop of Houma-Thibodaux, what will the next few weeks look like as he prepares to leave the archdiocese?
    We will celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving on Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. at St. Louis Cathedral, which will allow priests, deacons, religious and lay people of the archdiocese to gather in prayer to thank God for Bishop Fabre’s fruitful ministry in the archdiocese for the last six years. All are invited to this special thanksgiving Mass. The priests of the archdiocese also will honor Bishop Fabre at a luncheon on Oct. 25 at Notre Dame Seminary.
    Will Bishop Fabre be spending some time in Houma-Thibodaux before his Oct. 30 installation Mass?
    He’ll spend some time there over the next several weeks, but most of his time will be spent here preparing for the transition and finishing up the ministerial matters that he has been overseeing. He’ll be organizing his things, packing up and then moving. I think he’ll actually make the move to Houma-Thibodaux the week of Oct. 27. On Tuesday, Oct. 29, he will preside at an evening prayer service for the people of the Houma-Thibodaux Diocese. That will be a wonderful time for him to begin building fraternity with his brother priests.
    How do you view these next few weeks of transition?
    It’s a real privilege for me to support Bishop Fabre and to walk with him during this time of transition. Right now he’s going through both grief and joy. He leaves the Archdiocese of New Orleans with very fond memories, and we have very fond and affectionate memories of him. He’s done great work here, he’s been very happy here and he’s become close to a lot of people, so there is a true grief in letting go of that. There’s also the joy of being able to serve as the shepherd of Houma-Thibodaux. It’s a very nice diocese, and he’s received a very, very warm welcome from Bishop (Sam) Jacobs, the priests, the religious and the diocesan staff. So he has mixed emotions.
    What does his transition mean for the archdiocese?
    This is certainly a time of transition for us, as well, because we will not have an active auxiliary bishop. I’m blessed to have Archbishop (Alfred) Hughes, who is retired but who still does a lot of ministry. I’m also blessed to have Bishop (Dominic) Carmon, who is also retired but who does a lot of ministry. But we will not have a bishop serving as vicar general and sharing the ministry with me full time in the same way. So, I will certainly miss Bishop Fabre’s collaboration and fraternal support.
    In almost all cases, a bishop confers the sacrament of confirmation. Will this affect the archdiocesan confirmation schedule?
    Bishop Fabre was scheduled to do about 25 confirmations this year, so it will affect that schedule. I’m in the process right now of adjusting those schedules, and I’m asking parishes to be very patient as we work this out. We will honor as many scheduled dates as we can, but we may have to find alternative dates for some of the confirmations. I’m asking people to be patient with me because that’s going to take some time.
    Where will Bishop Fabre live in the Houma-Thibodaux Diocese?
    There is a bishop’s residence there, and they are providing a separate house for Bishop Jacobs.
    Can you share any advice you have given to Bishop Fabre as he prepares to become the ordinary of a diocese?
    He and I have talked about that. I joked with him the other day. I said, “Shelton, I always give the advice to our new pastors that they should wait nine months before they make any changes. For whatever it’s worth, I would suggest that you might want to do the same – just listen and look and hear a lot and then pray a lot and then you can make some decisions.” He used to often joke with me about giving advice or an opinion to someone but then always telling the person, “Make sure you check with the archbishop.” I reminded him of that the other day, and I said, “You know how you used to tell people they had to check with me? Now they’ll all be checking with you in Houma-Thibodaux, so get ready for a lot of check-ins!”
    Questions for Archbishop Aymond may be sent to [email protected].