Priest with Houma ties named Bishop of Beaumont, Texas

July 2, 2020

Msgr. David L. Toups, a priest of the Diocese of Saint Petersburg, FL, and currently the president and rector of St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, was named this week as the Sixth Bishop of the Diocese of Beaumont, TX. The appointment was announced in Washington, D.C., by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Although born on March 26, 1971, in Seattle, WA, bishop-elect Toups grew up in Houma, attending both St. Francis de Sales Cathedral School and Vandebilt Catholic High School before his family moved to Clearwater, FL. After graduating from high school in Florida, he attended Florida Southern College before entering St. John Vianney College Seminary. He also earned degrees from Pontifical North American College, the Pontifical Gregorian University and Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas.

At his press conference in Beaumont, he referenced his childhood in Houma and his family's connection to the oilfield. In his introduction by retiring Bishop Curtis Guillory, S.V.D., it was noted that bishop-elect Toups was confirmed by Houma-Thibodaux's first bishop, Warren L. Boudreaux, also a former Bishop of Beaumont.

His ordination to the episcopacy and installation as bishop of Beaumont is scheduled for Aug. 21 in Beaumont's historic St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica.