Diocese of Bridgetown
Pontipolitan(us)
Suffragan diocese · Latin Church · Bridgetown, Barbados
Latin-rite diocese covering the island of Barbados, erected 7 March 1970 as the Diocese of Bridgetown-Kingstown and renamed Bridgetown on 23 October 1989, suffragan of the Archdiocese of Port of Spain. Its seat is St. Patrick's Cathedral in Bridgetown, completed in 1899 and part of the UNESCO World Heritage historic center. Bishop Neil Sebastian Scantlebury, appointed 28 December 2020, is the first Barbadian Catholic bishop.
The see
- Rank
- Suffragan diocese
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 23 October 1989
- Latin
- Pontipolitan(us)
- Patron
- São Patrício
- Annuario code
- 001000955
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 9,960
- Population
- 277,000
- Catholic share
- 3.6%
- Priests
- 14
- Catholics per priest
- 711
- Extent
- 430 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 23
of the people living within its bounds
Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.
The bishop
- Bishop
- Neil Sebastian Scantlebury
- Born
- 1 October 1965
- Birthplace
- Bridgetown
A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.
The cathedral
St. Patrick's Cathedral, Bridgetown stands in Bridgetown, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.
On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.
The province of Port of Spain
A suffragan of Archdiocese of Port of Spain.
The sees of this province:
- Diocese of GeorgetownGeorgetown
- Diocese of ParamariboParamaribo
- Archdiocese of Port of SpainPort of Spain
- Diocese of WillemstadWillemstad
On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.
History
Barbados, the former British dependency in the Caribbean, is served in its entirety by the Diocese of Bridgetown (Latin: Dioecesis Pontipolitana), a Latin Church see suffragan to the Archdiocese of Port of Spain and a member of the Antilles Episcopal Conference. First erected in 1970 as the Diocese of Bridgetown-Kingstown, it was divided on 23 October 1989 into separate dioceses of Bridgetown and Kingstown.
What is kept by invitation
The record above is published because it is public: what this see is, when it was erected, who holds its chair, and where it stands among its neighbours.
The working record is not. The chancery's address, telephone and email, the clergy of the see, and the hours of Mass, confession and adoration in the parishes within it are kept for members, and a person reads every request.
Sources
The see's own website · Wikipedia
This record is compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. On the method, see the keeping of the record. Whoever finds an error is asked, in charity, to write: [email protected].