BEAUMONT, Texas — Bishop Curtis Guillory, alongwith the Diocese of Beaumont, celebrated the last Sunday mass before a new bishop steps into his role this week.
According to a post from the Catholic Diocese of Beaumont, Guillory said he's "blessed to have been here" and thanked his 'brother priests, deacons, religious sisters, and "particularly the laity.'"
Guillory was the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Beaumont and the first African-American bishop in Texas.
He's also the longest-serving bishop for the Diocese. He also established the Catholic Foundation of the Diocese of Beaumont.
A priest from Florida was chosen to take over when Guillory retires.
David Toups, 49, will be one of the youngest ever appointed to the role of bishop in Beaumont.
Toups grew up in Houma, Louisiana, and says he knows he has some big shoes to fill and will do his best to continue God's work in the church and community.
Toups will be ordained and installed as the sixth bishop of Beaumont at St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica at 2 p.m. on August 21. Due to COVID-19, the gathering won't be open to the public.
He was ordained a priest on June 14, 1997, for the Diocese of St. Petersburg, Florida. He served for several years in Washington with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and then as 'Rector/President for St. Vincent de Paul Seminary in Boynton Beach, Florida,' according to the Diocese of Beaumont.
