Pope Francis appoints new bishop of Beaumont, Texas

Vatican City, Jun 9, 2020 / 05:00 am

Pope Francis appointed Msgr. David L. Toups as the next Bishop of Beaumont, Texas, Tuesday.

The Holy See press office announced June 9 that Toups would succeed Bishop Curtis J. Guillory, 76, who has led the diocese since the year 2000. 

Toups, 49, currently serves as rector of St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boyton Beach, Florida. 

He was born March 26, 1971 in Seattle, Washington, and grew up in Louisiana before moving to Florida. In 1990, he entered St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami, where he obtained a bachelor's degree in philosophy and theology. 

In 1993, he moved on to the Pontifical North American College in Rome, where he gained a licentiate in theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University. 

Toups was ordained to the priesthood June 14, 1997, for the Diocese of St. Petersburg and appointed parochial vicar of St. Frances X. Cabrini Parish in Spring Hill, Florida. He then studied for a doctorate in theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum), writing his thesis on "The Sacerdotal Character as the Foundation of the Priestly Life: The Contribution of Blessed Columba Marmion."

From 2004 to 2006, he was professor of sacramental and liturgical theology, as well as dean of students, at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary.

In 2007, he was released from diocesan assignment to serve as associate director of the Secretariat for Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington.

In 2010, he returned to St. Petersburg diocese, where he was pastor of Christ the King Parish in Tampa for two years before being named president and rector of St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary.

Guillory, a member of the Society of the Divine Word, became the fifth bishop of Beaumont on July 28, 2000. He was the first member of a religious order to lead the diocese and the first African American ordinary in Texas, according to a biography on the diocese's website.

He was born on September 1, 1943, in Mallet, Louisiana, the oldest of 16 children belonging to Wilfred Guillory, a sharecropper, and his wife, Theresa. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1972.

In 1988, Guillory was named an auxiliary bishop in the then Diocese of Galveston-Houston, choosing the episcopal motto "For those who love God, all things work together for good" (Romans 8:28).

He led the diocese through its recovery from three major storms: Rita, Ike, and Harvey. He also promoted youth ministry, Hispanic ministry, stewardship formation and evangelization, according to his official biography.

The Diocese of Beaumont covers 7,878 square miles in Southeast Texas, with a total population of 643,798 of which 68,597 are Catholic, according to a June 9 press release from the USCCB.