Statement of Bishop-elect Shelton Fabre
on Departing from the Diocese of Baton Rouge

Good afternoon to all of you! As I did this morning in the Archdiocese of New Orleans, please allow me to begin first by expressing my gratitude, my loyalty, and my personal support to Our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI. I am humbled by the trust and confidence that he has placed in me, and I pledge to our Holy Father that I will embrace this task with all that I possess, and sincerely pray that I can accomplish to the very best of my ability what is asked of me.

By the appointment of our Holy Father, I will be a priest of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, and will soon be leaving the Diocese of Baton Rouge, which up until now has been the place where as a priest I have both served and encountered Jesus Christ as he came to me in the clergy, religious, and laity of this wonderful diocese. I am excited about this new aspect of my life’s journey to Jesus Christ, but I am also keenly aware that I am departing from a place and a diocesan church that I dearly love; a church that has both nurtured and nourished me both as a priest and as a person.

The lay faithful of the Diocese of Baton Rouge have been a grace to me in more ways than I can count. Because of their faith, their prayer, their support, their concern, and their love, I count myself truly blessed. In a special way, however, I want to express my gratitude and affection for those church parishes where I was privileged to serve as a priest: St. Alphonsus Liguori in Greenwell Springs; St. George in Baton Rouge; St. Isidore the Farmer in Baker; St. Joseph Cathedral in Baton Rouge; St. Joseph in Grosse Tete; Immaculate Heart of Mary in Maringouin; and my current placement, the great and beloved parish community of Sacred Heart of Jesus in Baton Rouge. In a very real way the people of these church parishes have lovingly and challengingly molded me into the priest that I am today. I will always cherish and rely on the many memories that I have of encountering Jesus Christ here with you, among you, and through you.

To my brother priests in the Diocese of Baton Rouge, who serve so well and labor so continuously. Your great faith and dedication to service, your support for one another, your concern for one another, and your marvelous camaraderie will always be with me. I know that my assignment reduces your numbers here in this diocese, and this makes this aspect of my moving all the more heartrending. Let us all continue to pray fervently for more vocations to the priesthood. To all of the deacons, to the religious men, the religious women, and to the seminarians with whom I have had the opportunity to work, I am grateful, too, for your service, and can only hope that from our joined efforts together you received as much grace and hope as I did from all of you.

To Bishop Muench, Bishop of Baton Rouge, I express special gratitude for the way that he has been a shepherd to me here as a priest in Baton Rouge, and also since learning of this appointment. Bishop Muench, I am truly grateful for your availability to help me, to counsel me, and to support me. I promise to do the best that I can in New Orleans, which because it is your hometown is a place that I know remains very special to you.

As I prepare now to depart in the near future for the Archdiocese of New Orleans, please pray for me in my new ministry, and I offer my promise of prayers for you. In these days, let us heed the words of St. Augustine spoken in one of his sermons, "When we part from one another, let us not depart from Jesus."