Bishop Fabre on Charlottesville, VA

Charlottesville, VA. Unfortunately, due to the recent events in Charlottesville, we add the name of another city to the list of cities where events surrounding racial unrest and violence have sadly claimed human lives, exposed our ongoing struggle with racial unrest, and captured the attention of our nation and our world. 

The recent events that unfolded in Charlottesville hit hard at the very heart of the understanding of our shared common humanity and human dignity, causing us again to collectively gasp at the loss of another precious human life as well as at the violence that erupted there. As one of our recent Sunday Gospels reminded us, ‘there are weeds among the wheat.’ The weeds of racial hatred and violence continue to be manifest amongst the wheat of our ongoing efforts to grow into and live together as the beloved community that God continually calls us to be.

I ask that you receive my thoughts offered here not as an effort to advance any political party or political agenda, but as a pastor and shepherd of souls. My only desire is to advance the continued unfolding of the Kingdom of God amongst us. My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, clearly for God’s Kingdom to continue to grow amongst us, we all still have a lot of work to do in our country in the realm of bridging and healing the painful division that exists between people of different races. 

As we do so, we must acknowledge that there can be no acceptance of racism, or of the ideology of those who think themselves superior to others based on race, or of those who would encourage violence as a response to challenges that we face. Seeking to move forward, there can be no negative divisions of people in our thoughts and actions into “us” as opposed to “them.” There is only “we,” and “we” embrace our unity in Jesus Christ amidst our racial and cultural diversity.

I know that our nation has the capacity to come together as “we” in order to face and answer the challenges that continue to rise up in the area of racial harmony. This coming together starts with how each of us opens ourselves to encountering and coming to know in a constructive way those who are racially different from us.

Charlottesville. Because of our response as followers of Jesus Christ, we are a people called to pray and to work toward healing, understanding and forgiveness. I am confident that history will not remember only the tragedy at Charlottesville, but in the future, please dear God, will focus even more on Charlottesville as a time when we truly learned an important lesson, and began anew in our country to journey toward healing and reconciliation among people of different races and cultures.


Sincerely yours in Christ,

+ Most Reverend Shelton J. Fabre
Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux