The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Castries ( la, Archidioecesis Castriensis) is an

archdiocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

of the

Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Jo ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean ...

. The archdiocese consists of the entirety of the former British dependency of

Saint 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 Ameri ...

and is a metropolitan see, the suffragans of the Castries Province being the Dioceses of

Roseau Roseau ( Dominican Creole: ''Wozo'') is the capital and largest city of Dominica, with a population of 14,725 as of 2011. It is a small and compact urban settlement, in the Saint George parish and surrounded by the Caribbean Sea, the Roseau R ...

, Saint George's in Grenada, St. John's-Basseterre and Kingstown."Bishop Gordon tells Kingstown successor: Say 'yes' to the Cross"
(p. 13) "Catholic News", February 28, 2016. Retrieved February 24, 2016. The archdiocese is a member of the

Antilles Episcopal Conference The Antilles Episcopal Conference (AEC) 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 Amer ...

. Erected as the Diocese of Castries in 1956 from its then-metropolitan see of

Port of Spain Port of Spain ( Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a muni ...

, it was elevated to archdiocese in November 1974. The

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...

Gabriel Malzaire Gabriel Malzaire (born 4 October 1957 in Mon Repos, Saint Lucia) is a Saint Lucian clergyman and Archbishop of Castries. He was ordained in 1985 and was appointed bishop in 2002. While he had previously opposed efforts to repeal laws against ...

The

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

is the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, a

minor basilica In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...

located in Derek Walcott Square, Castries.

Bishops

Ordinaries

* Charles Alphonse H.J. Gachet, F.M.I. (1957–1974) * Patrick Webster, O.S.B. (1974–1979) * Kelvin Edward Felix (1981–2008); elevated to Cardinal in 2014 * Robert Rivas, O.P. (2008–2022) *

(2022–present)

Coadjutor archbishop

* Robert Rivas, O.P. (2007-2008)

Other priest of this diocese who became bishop

, appointed Bishop of Roseau, Dominica, Antilles in 2002

References

External links