Antilles Episcopal Conference

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The Antilles Episcopal Conference is a Roman Catholic episcopal conference. Its members are Bishops and Archbishops from current and former British, Dutch, and French colonies and dependencies in the Caribbean (excluding Haiti), Central America, and northern South America. The conference's membership includes five archdioceses, fourteen dioceses, and two missions sui iuris. These particular Churches minister to Catholics in thirteen independent nations, six British colonies, three departments of France, and two autonomous regions of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.[1] Additionally, the bishop from an American insular area has been granted observer status.

The episcopal conference is led by a president, who must be a diocesan ordinary and is elected by the membership of the conference for a three year term. The conference also elects a vice president, who has the same qualifications as the president, and a treasurer, who can be a diocesan ordinary, a coadjutor bishop, or an auxiliary bishop. Additionally, a permanent board, made of the president, vice president, treasurer, the metropolitan archbishops, and two other elected members, handles administrative issues between plenary meetings of the conference.[2] The president of the conference is currently Lawrence Burke, Archbishop of Kingston.

The Holy See appoints an Apostolic delegate to the Antilles Episcopal Conference, who also serves as the Apostolic nuncio to the independent nations of the conference, except Belize. The nunciature is located in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The current Apostolic delegate is American Archbishop Thomas Edward Gullickson.

[edit] Members

Diocese Bishop(s) Territory(ies)
Province of Castries
Archdiocese of Castries Kelvin Felix; Robert Rivas, O.P. (coadjutor) Saint Lucia
Diocese of Kingstown Sede vacante Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Diocese of Roseau Gabriel Malzaire Dominica
Diocese of Saint George's in Grenada Vincent Darius, O.P.; Sydney Charles (emeritus) Grenada
Diocese of Saint John's – Basseterre Donald Reece; Joseph Bowers, S.V.D (emeritus) Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, Montserrat, Anguilla, and the British Virgin Islands
Province of Kingston
Archdiocese of Kingston in Jamaica Lawrence Burke; Edgerton Clarke (emeritus) Jamaica
Diocese of Belize City – Belmopan Dorick McGowan Wright; Osmond Martin (emeritus) Belize
Diocese of Mandeville Sede vacante; Gordon Bennett (emeritus); Paul Boyle (emeritus) Jamaica
Diocese of Montego Bay Charles Dufour Jamaica
Mission Sui Iuris of Cayman Islands Adam Cardinal Maida Cayman Islands
Province of Nassau
Archdiocese of Nassau Patrick Pinder Bahamas
Diocese of Hamilton in Bermuda Robert Kurtz, C.R. Bermuda
Mission Sui Iuris of Turks and Caicos John J. Myers Turks and Caicos
Province of Port of Spain
Archdiocese of Port of Spain Edward Gilbert, C.Ss. R. Trinidad and Tobago
Diocese of Bridgetown Sede vacante; Anthony Dickson (emeritus); Malcolm Gault (emeritus) Barbados
Diocese of Georgetown Francis Alleyne, O.S.B.; Benedict Singh (emeritus) Guyana
Diocese of Paramaribo Wilhelmus de Bekker; Aloysius Zichem, C.Ss. R (emeritus) Suriname
Diocese of Willemstad Luigi Secco Aruba, Netherlands Antilles
Province of Fort-de-France
Archdiocese of Fort-de-France Gilbert Méranville; Maurice Marie-Sainte (emeritus) Martinique
Diocese of Basse–Terre Ernest Cabo Guadeloupe
Diocese of Cayenne Emmanuel Lafont French Guyana
Observer
Diocese of St. Thomas Sede vacante; Elliot Griffin Thomas (emeritus) United States Virgin Islands

[edit] References

  1. ^ About Us — Who We Are. Antilles Epsicopal Conference. Retrieved on 2007-07-27.
  2. ^ Statutes of the Antilles Episcopal Conference (2001). Retrieved on 2007-07-28.

[edit] External links