Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgetown

See also: Diocese of Barbados

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgetown (Latin: Dioecesis Pontipolitana) is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Roman Catholic Church in the Caribbean. The diocese encompasses the entirety of the former British dependency of Barbados. The diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Port of Spain, and a member of the Antilles Episcopal Conference.

Diocese of Bridgetown Dioecesis Pontipolitana
Coat of arms
Location
Country	Barbados
Ecclesiastical province	Port of Spain
Metropolitan	Port of Spain
Statistics
Area	430 km2 (170 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2012) 277,000 11,100 (4.0%)
Parishes	7
Information
Rite	Roman Rite
Cathedral	St. Patrick's Cathedral in Bridgetown
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Neil Sebastian Scantlebury
Metropolitan Archbishop	Joseph Everard Harris
Website
Website of the Diocese

Erected in 1970 as the Diocese of Bridgetown-Kingstown, the diocese was split on 23 October 1989 into the Diocese of Bridgetown and the Diocese of Kingstown. In September 2011, Father Jason Gordon was consecrated Bishop of this Diocese, after the retirement of Bishop Malcolm Galt in May 2005. Both Bishops Malcolm Galt and Jason Gordon are clergy native to Trinidad .

In 2009, the Mayor of the Irish city of Drogheda presented Father Harcourt Blackett with a scroll to commemorate the 360th anniversary of the deportation of Irish Catholics to Barbados. The Irish Catholic migrants formed the basis of the Catholic Church in Barbados. Historically the Church of England was the official state religion in the colony of Barbados, and the Irish Catholics that practiced their faith were forced to worship and practice their religion in caves in Barbados. Specifically Indian cave and Chapel cave both in the northern parts of Barbados have been identified as having been used as such. Father Blackett said he expected to receive more scrolls from other Irish cities which Barbados has a historic link including Wexford and Waterford. He also proposed the establishment of a shrine in the Caves in Barbados to remember those that worshiped there in the past.^[1]

Ordinaries

• Anthony Hampden Dickson (19 October 1970 – 23 April 1995)
• Malcolm Patrick Galt, C.S.Sp. (23 April 1995 – 31 May 2005)
• Charles Jason Gordon (8 July 2011 – 19 October 2017), appointed Archbishop of Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
• Neil Sebastian Scantlebury (28 Dec 2020 - )

References

1. Goddard, Mike (2009-03-04). "Irish city commemorates founding of Catholic Church in Barbados". Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2009-03-17.

Notes

• http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dbrit.html
• http://www.barbados.org/churches/catholic.htm

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