At the recently held plenary meeting of the Antilles Episcopal Conference (AEC) in St Lucia (April 30- May 4), General Secretary of the Caribbean Conference of Churches (CCC) – Gerard Granado – addressed the bishops of the Conference on the issue of ecumenism in the Caribbean region. This was on the invitation of the AEC issued to Mr Granado earlier this year.

While providing an update on programme initiatives of the CCC, the General Secretary affirmed the historic role of the Roman Catholic Church – through the AEC – as a founding member of the CCC.

Reminding the bishops that the CCC was the very first instance in the world where the RC Church was a full-fledged participating member of a Regional Ecumenical Organisation (REO), Mr Granado quoted from the preparatory Vatican document for the 1997 Synod of the Americas.

Bishops and archbishops of the AEC listen attentively as Mr Granado (7th from left) speaks on the matter of ecumenism

In this document the AEC was cited as an example of the kind of leadership that is possible and desirable in the area of ecumenism.

Following the General Secretary’s presentation and the ensuing discussion, the commitment of the bishops to the ecumenical movement in the region was re-iterated by the AEC’s President, Archbishop Lawrence Burke.

This was done recognising – as indicated by Mr Granado - that the contemporary period brought with it new challenges for Churches and peoples of the Caribbean as compared to the founding era of the CCC some 32 years ago.

While in St Lucia, the CCC’s General Secretary also participated in celebrations to mark the jubilee of the Archdiocese of Castries, and the 25th  anniversary of the episcopal ordination of three bishops of the AEC.

These are: Archbishop Lawrence Burke – Archbishop of Kingston, Jamaica and President of the AEC; Bishop Donald Reece – Bishop of St John’s Basseterre and a President of the CCC; and Archbishop Kelvin Felix – Archbishop of Castries, St Lucia and a former President and Associate General Secretary of the CCC.

Archbishop Felix was also celebrating his 50th Anniversary of priestly ordination. The occasion also marked the 50th plenary meeting of the AEC.