{{Short description|US Catholic bishop}}
{{Infobox Christian leader | type = | honorific-prefix = The Most Reverend | name = Jacques Eric Fabre-Jeune | honorific-suffix = CS | title = Bishop of Charleston | image = Fabre-jeune.jpg | caption = Fabre-Jeune in 2024 | appointed = February 22, 2022 | enthroned = May 13, 2022 | retired = | predecessor = Robert E. Guglielmone | successor = | ordination = October 10, 1986 | ordained_by = Wilton Daniel Gregory | consecration = May 13, 2022 | consecrated_by = Wilton Daniel Gregory, Gregory John Hartmayer, and Luis R. Zarama | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1955|11|13}} | birth_place = Port-au-Prince, Haiti | nationality = American | previous_post = Pastor, San Pedro de Macorís (1991–2004)<br>Parochial Vicar, St. Joseph’s and Holy Trinity Parishes (2006–2010)<br>Administrator, San Felipe de Jesús Mission (2009–2022) | coat_of_arms = | motto = Whatever you do to the least of my children, you do to me | see = Diocese of Charleston | education = St. John's University<br>University of St. Michael's College<br>Catholic Theological Union<br>Pontifical Urban University }}
{{Infobox bishopstyles | name= Jacques Eric Fabre-Jeune | dipstyle= *His Excellency *The Most Reverend | offstyle=Your Excellency | relstyle=Bishop | image = File:Coat of arms of Jacques Eric Fabre-Jeune.svg | image_size = 200px }}
'''Jacques Eric Fabre-Jeune''', C.S. (born November 13, 1955) is a Haitian-born American prelate of the Catholic Church who has served as bishop of the Diocese of Charleston in South Carolina since 2022.
Fabre-Jeune is the first Haitian-American to head a diocese. Since being ordained a priest in 1986, Fabre-Jeune has worked in Florida, Georgia, the Dominican Republic, and briefly at a refugee camp at Guantanamo Bay. He is a member of the Congregation of the Missionaries of Saint Charles Borromeo (Scalabrinians).
==Biography==
===Early life=== Jacques Fabre-Jeune was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on November 13, 1955. He was one of six children in his family.<ref name="golden">{{cite news |last=Golden |first=Jessica |date=March 1, 2022 |title=Jacques Fabre appointed bishop of Charleston, S.C., the first Black bishop in the diocese's history |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/jacques-fabre-appointed-bishop-charleston-sc-first-black-bishop-dioces-rcna17039 |access-date=March 23, 2025 |work=NBC News}}</ref> As a teenager, he emigrated to the United States, settling in New York City where he completed his high school education. He then attended St. John's University in New York before transferring to University of St. Michael's College in Toronto to begin seminary studies.<ref name="usccb">{{cite web |date=February 22, 2022 |title=Father Jacques Fabre, C.S., Appointed Bishop of Charleston |url=https://www.usccb.org/news/2022/father-jacques-fabre-cs-appointed-bishop-charleston |access-date=March 23, 2025 |website=United States Conference of Catholic Bishops}}</ref> During his novitiate with the Scalabrinians, Fabre-Jeune served in a mission in Mexico, gaining early exposure to cross-cultural ministry.<ref name="messenger">{{cite news |date=June 16, 2023 |title=Meet Bishop Jacques Fabre-Jeune |url=https://www.themessenger.com/faith/meet-bishop-jacques-fabre-jeune/article_90ec929a-0c88-11ee-a164-2fa5f45e3ec6.html |access-date=March 23, 2025 |work=The Messenger}}</ref>
Fabre-Jeune continued his theological education at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and the Scalabrini House of Theology. He later earned a Master of Divinity and a Licentiate in Migration Studies from the Urbaniana University in Rome.<ref name="vatbio">{{cite web |date=February 22, 2022 |title=Biographical Summary: Bishop Jacques Eric Fabre-Jeune, C.S. |url=https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2022/02/22/220222b.html |access-date=March 23, 2025 |website=Vatican Press Office}}</ref>
===Priesthood=== Fabre-Jeune was ordained a priest of the Scalabrinians on October 25, 1986, by Auxiliary Bishop Wilton D. Gregory at St. Theresa of Avila Church in Brooklyn.<ref name="golden" />His first pastoral assignment from the Scalabrinians was at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Immokalee, Florida. In 1990, during the Haitian refugee crisis, Fabre-Jeune was assigned as a chaplain to Haitian detainees at the American Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. He was involved in a reported altercation with military police during their efforts to protect a detainee.<ref>{{cite news |last=Duke |first=Lynne |title=U.S. CAMP FOR HAITIANS DESCRIBED AS PRISON-LIKE |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1992/09/19/us-camp-for-haitians-described-as-prison-like/69f78662-027e-45a0-9908-9654245f399f/ |work=Washington Post |date=September 19, 1992 |access-date=January 5, 2024}}</ref>
In 1991, Fabre-Jeune was assigned to the Dominican Republic where he pastored a parish in San Pedro de Macorís for over a decade. There, he worked with Haitian immigrants and developed community services in an environment marked by ethnic and racial tension.<ref name="usccb" />
Upon returning to the United States, Fabre-Jeune was assigned as a parochial vicar at St. Joseph’s Parish in Athens, Georgia (2006 to 2008), and Holy Trinity Parish in Peachtree City, Georgia (2008 to 2010). In 2009, he became administrator of San Felipe de Jesús Mission in Forest Park, Georgia. Fabre-Jeune led a predominantly Hispanic congregation and successfully spearheaded the construction of a new self-funded church, dedicated in 2011.<ref name="mission">{{cite news |last=Dávila |first=Ruth E. |date=April 14, 2011 |title=Hispanic Mission Builds Self-Financed Church |url=https://georgiabulletin.org/news/2011/04/hispanic-mission-builds-self-financed-church/ |access-date=March 23, 2025 |work=The Georgia Bulletin}}</ref>
From 2010 to 2022, Fabre-Jeune held multiple administrative roles in the Archdiocese of Atlanta, including:
* Member of the finance council * Member of the budget and operations committee * Member of the projects review committee * Director of the Hispanic Charismatic Renewal
Fabre-Jeune also served as the superior of the Scalabrinian religious community in Atlanta.<ref name="usccb" />
===Bishop of Charleston=== On February 22, 2022, Pope Francis appointed Fabre-Jeune as the 14th bishop of Charleston.<ref name="usccb" /> He was the first Haitian-American to lead the diocese, as well as the first member of a religious order to do so.<ref name="black">{{cite news |last1=Phillips |first1=Patrick |last2=Zuhowski |first2=Emilie |date=February 22, 2022 |title=First Black man named to serve as 14th Bishop of Charleston |url=https://www.live5news.com/2022/02/22/new-bishop-charleston-be-introduced-tuesday/ |access-date=March 23, 2025 |work=WCSC Live 5 News}}</ref> He was consecrated bishop on May 13, 2022, at the Charleston Area Convention Center in North Charleston. The principal consecrator was Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory, with co-consecrators Archbishop Gregory John Hartmayer and Bishop Luis R. Zarama.<ref>{{cite news |title=Thousands applaud installation of Charleston Diocese's first Black bishop |url=https://www.postandcourier.com/news/thousands-applaud-installation-of-charleston-dioceses-first-black-bishop/article_4ba0fba0-d2fc-11ec-82ae-9b4a526ca05d.html |work=The Post and Courier |date=May 13, 2022 |access-date=June 18, 2022}}</ref>
Since his installation, Fabre-Jeune has emphasized inclusion, youth engagement, and immigration reform. He has visited nearly all parishes in the diocese and launched listening sessions with clergy and laity to assess pastoral needs and administrative transparency.<ref>{{cite news |title=Charleston's new bishop meets with parishioners in statewide listening tour |url=https://www.live5news.com/2023/03/27/charlestons-new-bishop-meets-with-parishioners-statewide-listening-tour/ |publisher=WCSC |access-date=March 23, 2025}}</ref>
Fabre-Jeune is fluent in five languages: English, Spanish, Italian, French, and Haitian Creole.<ref name="usccb" /><ref name="messenger" />
==See also== {{div col}} * Catholic Church hierarchy * Catholic Church in the United States * Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States * List of Catholic bishops of the United States * Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops {{div col end}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{cite web | url = https://charlestondiocese.org/ | title = Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston }} * {{cite web | url= https://archatl.com/ | title =Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta}}
{{s-start}} {{s-rel|ca}} {{succession box |title=Bishop of Charleston |before= Robert E. Guglielmone |after= Incumbent |years= 2022–present | }} {{s-end}}
{{portal bar|Biography|Catholicism|South Carolina}} {{Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston|state=collapsed}} {{Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta|state=collapsed}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fabre-Jeune, Jacques}} Category:1955 births Category:Living people Category:People from Port-au-Prince Category:Scalabrinians Category:Pontifical Urban University alumni Category:Haitian emigrants to the United States Category:20th-century American Roman Catholic priests Category:21st-century American Roman Catholic priests Category:Roman Catholic missionaries Category:Haitian Roman Catholic bishops Category:21st-century American Roman Catholic bishops Category:Roman Catholic bishops of Charleston Category:21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Category:Bishops appointed by Pope Francis Category:Catholic Charismatic Renewal