The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Port of Spain ( la, Archidioecesis Portus Hispaniae) is a metropolitan diocese of the

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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 encompasses the entirety of the former Spanish dependency of Trinidad, including the islands of

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 ...

. The archdiocese is the Metropolitan responsible for the suffragan Dioceses of

Bridgetown Bridgetown ( UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the capital and largest city of Barbados. Formerly The Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the parish of Saint Michael. Bridgetown is sometimes locally referred to as "The ...

, Georgetown,

Paramaribo Paramaribo (; ; nicknamed Par'bo) is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's po ...

and

Willemstad Willemstad ( , ; ; en, William Town, italic=yes) is the capital city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was the capital of the Netherlands Antilles pr ...

, and 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 ...

. The diocese 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 ...

was originally erected as a vicariate apostolic in 1818 and elevated to an archdiocese in April 1830.

Communications

The archdiocese has its own special-purpose company, Catholic Media Services Limited (CAMSEL), responsible for coordinating communications. The diocesan weekly newspaper, ''Catholic News'', has been published in Trinidad since 1892 and since 2006 has been published by CAMSEL. There is also a local TV station which operates under the aegis of the archdiocese but is independently owned and operated by the Living Water Community, a public association of Christian Faith founded in Trinidad. The vicar for communications is Fr. Robert Christo.

Pastoral regions

The archdiocese is divided into six regions known as vicariates and each headed by a regional episcopal vicar. * Central Vicariate * Eastern Vicariate * Northern Vicariate * Southern Vicariate * Suburban Vicariate * Tobago Vicariate

Bishops

Ordinaries

* James Buckley (1819–1828) *

Daniel McDonnell (bishop) Daniel James McDonnell (born September 15, 1988) is an American professional volleyball player. A bronze medalist at the 2018 World Championship. At the professional club level, he plays for Arkas İzmir. Honors Clubs * CEV Challenge Cup ** ...

(1828–1844) *

Richard Patrick Smith Richard Patrick Smith, was an Irish born, Roman Catholic priest who served as Archbishop of Port of Spain, Trinidad. He was born in the parish of Kilbride, Co. Cavan, Diocese of Meath, on (St. Patrick's Day) the 17th of March, 1802. Having recei ...

(1844–1852) *

Vincent Spaccapietra The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Izmir ( la, Archidioecesis Smyrnensis) is a Latin archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Asian Turkey (Anatolia). The archdiocese's cathedral motherchurch and thus see of its archbishop is ...

(1855–1859) *

Ferdinand English Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "c ...

(1860–1862) * Joachim-Hyacinthe Gonin, O.P. (1863–1889) *

Patrick Vincent Flood Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name *Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint *Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick or ...

, O.P. (1889–1907) *

John Pius Dowling John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Seco ...

, O.P. (1909–1940) *

Patrick Finbar Ryan Patrick Finbar Ryan, TC, O.P., (1881-1975) was an Irish Dominican priest who served as Archbishop of Port of Spain, Trinidad (1940–1966). Patrick Ryan was born in Rochestown, County Cork, the son of Edward Ryan, and Matilda Ryan. on 4 Marc ...

, O.P. (1940–1966) *

Gordon Anthony Pantin Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...

C.S.Sp. , image = Holy Ghost Fathers seal.png , size = 175px , caption = The seal of the Congregation depicting the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Trinity. , abbreviation ...

(1967–2000) *

Edward Joseph Gilbert Edward Joseph Gilbert (born December 26, 1936) is a 20th- and 21st-century American-born bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, b ...

, C.Ss.R. (2001–2011) *Joseph Everard Harris, C.S.Sp. (2011-2017) *

Charles Jason Gordon Charles Jason Gordon (born 17 March 1959) is a Trinidadian Roman Catholic prelate and the current Metropolitan Archbishop of Port of Spain since his appointment in 2017. He had served prior to this as a parish priest for the locality of Gonza ...

(since 2017)

Coadjutor bishops

(1837-1844), as Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic * William Dominic O'Carroll, O.P. (1874-1880), did not succeed to see * Thomas Raymond Hyland, O.P. (1882-1884), did not succeed to see * George Vincent King, O.P. 1885-1886), did not succeed to see *

, O.P. (1887-1889) *

, O.P. (1937–1940) * Joseph Everard Harris, C.S.Sp. (2011)

Auxiliary bishops

William Michael Fitzgerald William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of ...

, O.P. (1958-1968) * John Mendes (1988-2002) * Robert Anthony Llanos (2013-2018), appointed Bishop of Saint John's-Basseterre, Virgin Islands (British)

Other priests of this diocese who became bishops

* Sydney Anicetus Charles, appointed Bishop of Saint George's in Grenada in 1974 * Clyde Martin Harvey, appointed Bishop of Saint George's in Grenada in 2018 * Malcolm Patrick Galt, CSSp., appointed Bishop of Bridgetown in Barbados in 1995

References

The Archdiocese of Port of Spain
''official site'' * * Roman Catholic dioceses in the Caribbean Catholic Church in Trinidad and Tobago Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 19th century Religious organizations established in 1818 A {{RC-diocese-stub