Robert Rivas O.P. (born 1946) is the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

archbishop of the Archdiocese of Castries in

St. Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerin ...

Early life

Rivas was born in the village of La Pastora, Arouca,

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

, on June 7, 1946. He is the son of the late Sabina and Placido Rivas, and has one sister and five brothers. Having completed his secondary studies in the Dominican College of Holy Cross, Arima, he entered the novitiate of the Irish Province of the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of ...

in St. Mary's Priory,

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, and subsequently to the Dominican House of Studies, in St. Mary's, Tallaght, Dublin. After ordination in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Port of Spain, by Archbishop Anthony Pantin on June 27, 1971, he went to the

Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) A pontifical ( la, pontificale) is a Christian liturgical book containing the liturgies that only a bishop may perform. Among the liturgies are those of the ordinal for the ordination and consecration of deacons, priests, and bishops to Holy O ...

, Rome, where he obtained the Licence in Theology. After

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, he returned to

where he successfully completed a course in radio and television production and received a diploma in communications.

Career

On his return to Trinidad and Tobago he spent his first two years of ministry at St Theresa’s, Woodbrook, Port of Spain, under the direction of the future master of the

Order of Preachers The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...

, Rev. Damian Byrne. He continued in parish ministry for another three years in South and North East

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

. The following years were devoted to involvement in social communications, campus ministry at

the University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in th ...

, St Augustine Campus, and the formation of young Dominicans for the priesthood and religious life. During this time he completed a programme in spiritual direction. From 1985 to 1989, in addition to his work in formation, he served as a special Delegate of the Master of the

, to promote the unity of the order among the vicariates in the Caribbean. He was the first Dominican in the Caribbean to be appointed to this position. On October 28, 1989, his appointment as the first

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

of the newly created

Diocese of Kingstown The Roman Catholic Diocese of Kingstown ( la, Dioecesis Regalitana) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the Caribbean. The diocese comprises the entirety of the nation of Saint Vincent and the Grenadine ...

in St Vincent and the Grenadines was announced in

. He was consecrated Bishop of Kingstown on January 22, 1990. He has the distinction of being the first Caribbean-born Dominican to become a bishop in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

in 500 years of evangelisation. On May 31, 2005, he was appointed

Apostolic Administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic adm ...

of the Diocese of Bridgetown,

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...

."Bishop Rivas appointed to St.Lucia"
CatholicNews-tt.net. July 29, 2007. Retrieved October 4, 2007. As he approached his retirement age, Archbishop

Kelvin Felix Kelvin Edward Felix, OBE, SLMH, DAH (born 15 February 1933) is the Roman Catholic Archbishop emeritus of Castries. He was born in Roseau, Dominica, on 15 February 1933.Joseph Jr., Rudy (2006, 28 April). 50th Anniversary: Archbishop Felix cel ...

of the

Archdiocese of Castries The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Castries ( la, Archidioecesis Castriensis) is an archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Roman Catholic Church in the Caribbean. The archdiocese consists of the entirety of the former British dependency of Saint Lu ...

requested of the Vatican that a co-adjutor archbishop be appointed to ensure a smooth transition in the Archdiocese. On July 19, 2007 Bishop Robert Rivas of the

was appointed Co-adjutor Archbishop of the Diocese of Castries. He was presented on October 14, 2007."New archbishop comes to St. Lucia"
htsstlucia.com. July 20, 2007. Retrieved October 4, 2007.

Activities

Bishop Rivas has served as the chairperson of the Family and Life Commission for the Antilles Episcopal Conference (AEC), as a member of the Commission for Social Communications (Decos), of the Council of Bishops of Latin America (CELAM) and the chairperson of the National Committee Against Violence in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG). He served as President of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Christian Council, Chairperson of the National Monitoring and Consultative Mechanism (NMCM), the National Consultative Committee (NCC) and the Police Oversight Committee. He also served as visitator of the Regional Seminary of St John Vianney and the Uganda Martyrs and as a member of the Pontifical Council for Latin America (CAL). Presently, Archbishop Rivas is the vice president of the National Committee on Crime Prevention (NCCP) and President of the SVG Christian Council. He is the chairman of Board of the Regional Seminary, chairman of the AEC Youth Commission and a member of the AEC Liturgical Commission. Bishop Rivas preaches extensively promoting the missions through Mission Appeals in the USA as well as conducting parish missions and retreats for clergy and religious within the Caribbean and the continental USA. He is the editor of the '' Catholic Way'', a diocesan publication, produced his first Pastoral Letter for the

Jubilee Year A jubilee is a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term is often now used to denote the celebrations associated with the reign of a monarch after a milestone number of ...

2000, and published the documents of Assembly ’90 and ’98 which are significant documents outlining the Pastoral Plan and development for the Diocese of Kingstown. He is the founding bishop of the Diocese of Kingstown. As an international speaker he has addressed the National Conference of the Cursillo Movement in the USA, National Conference of Charismatic Renewal in USA, Couples for Christ in the USA and the Caribbean, the National Conference for the Directors of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the USA, International Conference for Priests in

Medjugorje Medjugorje ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Međugorje, Међугорје, ) is a town located in southwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina, about southwest of Mostar and east of the border with Croatia. The town is part of the Čitluk municipality ...

as well as a Festival for Youth from all over the world in Medjugorje. He also addressed an

OAS OAS or Oas may refer to: Chemistry * O-Acetylserine, amino-acid involved in cysteine synthesis Computers * Open-Architecture-System, the main user interface of Wersi musical keyboards * OpenAPI Specification (originally Swagger Specification) ...

Conference at the Second Assembly of the Association of Caribbean Electoral Organizations in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

on the “Role of Civil Society and Political Parties in the Electoral Process”. He was also a speaker at

World Youth Day World Youth Day (WYD) is an event for young people organized by the Catholic Church that was initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1985, sometimes nicknamed in later years as the "Catholic Woodstock". Its concept has been influenced by the Light-L ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

(2002). He addressed the Union of Bicol Priests in Naga City, Philippines in 2006.

References

External links

*Biography available i
Archbishops of Castries
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivas, Robert Living people 1946 births Saint Lucian Roman Catholic archbishops 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Caribbean 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the Caribbean Trinidad and Tobago Roman Catholics Bishops in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago expatriates in Barbados Expatriates in Saint Lucia Trinidad and Tobago expatriates in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Roman Catholic bishops Roman Catholic bishops of Bridgetown Dominican bishops Roman Catholic archbishops of Castries Roman Catholic bishops of Kingstown