A Haitian immigrant will be the next bishop of Charleston

The Gloria Purvis Podcast

On May 13, 2022, Rev. Jacque Fabre will be ordained and installed as the new bishop of Charleston, South Carolina. His predecessor, Most Rev. Robert E Guglielmone, submitted his retirement to Pope Francis, as is custom at 75 years of age.

This is a historic appointment for many reasons. Bishop-elect Fabre will be the 14th bishop, but the first Black bishop, of the diocese of Charleston, which extends throughout the entire state of South Carolina. He will be one of a handful Black bishops in the United States. And an immigrant from Haiti.

But these are all labels Bishop-elect Fabre is weary of. “First Haitian, first black, what does that mean?” he says, “It might put you in a box and I hate to be in [a box.]” Although he concedes this is an important historical moment, “Yes. To have a person from a different country, different language, being part of the hierarchy of the states. It's a huge progress.”

“It's a sign that the church in the south,” Gloria says, “which has this tangled up history with Blackness, with Black people,” can realize, “Black is beautiful. Black is holy. Black is beloved by God.”

Bishop-elect Fabre is a member of the religious order the Missionaries of St. Charles, or Scalabrinian Fathers. He has served in many places — such as Cuba, Colombia, Rome and the Dominican Republic — and in a variety of roles. He speaks five languages including English, Spanish, Italian, French and Creole.

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