“If anyone can't get on with Salty, they can't get on with anybody at all!” the late Archbishop Anthony Pantin wrote of Bishop Malcolm “Salty” Galt, CSSp, when the latter's appointment as Bishop of Bridgetown was announced.

That was in 1995. Now, ten years later, Bishop Galt has resigned from that post. He actually tendered his resignation in July last year upon his 75th birthday, as required by canon law.

Now in Trinidad to celebrate his 50th anniversary of priesthood, he declared himself to be “completely relaxed” as he prepares for a new assignment in Bequia, starting in August.

Even now, the late Archbishop's assessment of Bishop Galt is still true, said confrere, Fr Andy Cockburn. Bishop Galt and himself were prefects together – men in the early stages of priestly formation with the Holy Ghost Fathers - at St Mary's College, Port of Spain .

“He's got a big hat,” said Fr Andy, referring to the mitre, the ceremonial head-gear worn by bishops, “but he is the same simple person.”

Still “Salty” - a nickname earned during a game that naughty classmates were playing at the back of an English class at St Mary's. Even though he was not playing, said the bishop, the name still stuck - throughout his young life, his priesthood and episcopate.

“All my friends call me Salty; my enemies, too!” said a grinning Bishop Galt last April in his office at St Michael , Barbados .

In fact, when news of his appointment broke, Fr Peter Nicholson, a Holy Ghost Father known for his humour, solemnly declared: “Now that you are bishop, we have to be more formal. We have to call you, Sodium Chloride!”

At the time of this interview, Bishop Galt was drawing near to the close of his tenure in Barbados . In reflecting on his ministry there, he recalled the beginning of his journey.

Born to Templeton and Marguerite Galt on July 9, 1929 , Malcolm was the third of six children – three boys and three girls. At the family home at Jerningham Place , Belmont , the Galt children learnt from their parents' quiet example of hard work, commitment and deep devotion to God and the Church.

“My mother was a saint,” said Bishop Galt. “If she is not in heaven, forget it! There is no heaven!”

She was a daily communicant at Rosary parish, where young Malcolm was an altar server.

“I served with the Dominicans from the age of seven,” said the bishop, “and I served the Dominican Mass the very day I left for the novitiate. But, at that time, the Dominicans were not recruiting local vocations.”

Bishop Malcolm Galt at Corpus Christi celebrations earlier this year in Barbados . Photo: Laura Ann Phillips.

But the Holy Ghost Fathers were, for his elder brother, Ivan - who was nine years his senior – had joined them when young Malcolm was just six years old.

Bishop Galt remembered the afternoon when, following his brother's departure for studies in Ireland , Ivan's spiritual director, Fr English, visited their home. Papa Galt had gone for his usual walk around the Queen's Park Savannah, so Marguerite and little Malcolm entertained the priest.

Fr English was “a big, big man with a deep, deep voice”, he recalled, and had been chatting with Marguerite in the front gallery. Malcolm had not been listening to the conversation - children did not participate in adults' conversations in those days - so it was a shock when Fr English suddenly boomed, “And what about you? Would you like to become a priest?”

Before he could reply, Marguerite exclaimed, “Oh! If he were to become a priest, we would be delighted!”

“So, I knew from a very young age that if I decided to become a priest, my parents would be pleased,” the bishop said.

Their approval meant a lot to him. It was his parents who - by their example, not through force - taught him to be “a person of value”, he said. He underscored the importance of parental support for young people considering vocations to the priesthood, religious or consecrated life.

“Sometimes, I am convinced that there are many families in Barbados , and elsewhere too, who are praying for the sons and daughters of other families to be called, not their own! But, the Lord must be calling!”

As a child, he attended St Joseph 's Convent in Port of Spain - which had a junior boys department then - and, later, St Mary's College. He had a tremendous penchant for drama, revealed Fr Andy, and featured regularly in Shakespearean plays.

But he would discover his greatest role through the Sixth Trinidad Sea Scouts, where he was greatly influenced by its dynamic leader, Fr Cristobal Valdez, popularly known as Fr “Toba”.

“From early on, Fr Toba had sowed the idea of the priesthood,” he mused, “and as I journeyed through, I somehow felt that this was for me.”

By 1946, young Galt, now 18, joined the Holy Ghost Fathers, becoming a prefect at St Mary's College. He taught Biology, French and English for three years, and was also games master. At the end of his tenure there, he left for Canada to pursue seminary studies, enrolling in the Faculty of Philosophy at Marian University in Montreal. Later, he completed studies in theology at the Holy Ghost Missionary College in Ireland .

“I remember in our formation, both in Canada and Ireland , the seminaries were very missionary seminaries.

They were preparing missionaries,” he said, hammering his fist into his palm to punctuate each statement. They often used the French expression disponible, or “available”, he said, with reference to the missionary life.

“It was always hammered into us that part of the missionary vocation is to make yourself available to whatever the need is at the time, wherever you are.

Fr Lieberman - one of the founders of the seminary in Canada - had this expression that he used to use: that we ought to be like a feather floating in the air, driven by the Spirit,” he said and waved his arms to demonstrate just how.

“So, wherever the Spirit blows the feather, the feather goes.”

A young missionary once confided to him that she was unsure of being able to live a life of moving from place to place, never really putting down roots. Still very much a missionary at heart, the bishop told her, “It's not that you don't send down roots; you send down roots that can be easily dug up.”

He was ordained in the seminary chapel in Ireland in July 1955. The following year, armed with those lessons of trust, abandonment and obedience, the young priest was sent to the missions in Nigeria, throughout which about eight Holy Ghost Fathers were scattered at that time. He took up a teaching appointment at Christ the King College in the Archdiocese of Onitsha – one of two large Catholic colleges in the east of the territory.

By the time civil war broke out in Biafra during the 1960s, Fr Galt was stationed in Lagos, working with the bishops there. His were mainly administrative duties, one of which was to ensure that food was provided for the refugees who poured in.

Fr Galt returned to Trinidad a few years later, and was made local Provincial of the Holy Ghost Fathers in 1971. He also served at a number of parishes, including Our Lady of Fatima in Curepe, Santa Rosa, Arima and St Anthony's in Petit Valley. It was from St Anthony's that Fr Galt was called to serve as bishop in Barbados.

Then 66 years old, he recalled the moment when it came home to him just how much life was about to change.

“Flying over Barbados , looking down at the island, knowing I had never ministered here and this was to be my apostolate was quite a challenge.”

In his previous appointments in Nigeria and Trinidad , the main concern had always been ministering to and accommodating large numbers of the faithful in the parishes. The Barbados situation, he realised, would be markedly different.

Just four per cent of the island's population is Catholic, while more than 200 registered Christian churches are scattered generously throughout Barbados.

Bishop Malcolm Galt in 2005 Corpus Christi procession in Barbados.

Historically, Barbados was a British military outpost and, so, is traditionally Anglican. The Catholic Church in Barbados is just over 100 years old, and was heavily persecuted during the early part of its life. During those turbulent times, only one Catholic priest at a time was allowed in for six-month stays to minister to the Irish members of the militia. Any others found on the island were immediately deported.

The Catholic cathedral was even burnt to the ground once and, although there was strong evidence of arson, the authorities refused to investigate the incident.

That level of persecution no longer exists, but is still remembered.

“I was coming into a country I'd never worked in,” mused the bishop. “I told the Nuncio at the time, ‘Well, I will do my best and He, meaning the Lord, would have to do the rest'. When someone is appointed bishop, he comes with certain gifts, but not all.”

He was consecrated bishop on June 25, 1995 at St Patrick's Cathedral, Bridgetown. Those who have worked closely with him since then listed his discipline, organisational skills and sound financial management as some of his strongest characteristics. Both clergy and laity said he would also be remembered for his compassion, long-suffering and great love for children, especially babies.

During the offertory or the end of a Mass, he would often be spotted with a babe in arms, strolling toward the altar, as if asking God to bless the child. He would then continue his stroll along the aisles before returning the little one to its mother.

Bishop Galt is credited with establishing and maintaining strong ecumenical and pastoral relationships; the building of a bishop's residence and chancery; and the reconstruction of St Patrick's School - one of only two Catholic primary schools on the island, which was damaged in a fire shortly after he took up office.

While recognising his achievements, some said that Bishop Galt failed to exercise strong leadership, and was not sufficiently visible on the national stage.

“We all have different kinds of personalities, and I am not just the type to make my authority felt,” the bishop explained.

Despite all the varying assessments of his ministry in Barbados , Bishop Galt simply wants to be remembered as “the bishop who was close to his people, was always approachable and always had time for (them).

That is why I tried to always be very visible - not so much to the nation, certainly not! Visible to our communities, accepting every invitation that I could to meet the people”.

So, true to those early lessons about being disponible, Bishop Galt would often be found counselling and praying with visitors and callers, who poured out their hearts over the phone throughout the workday, and even during the night.

“He never says no,” said Joan Ross, his secretary throughout his tenure in Barbados. “He always says that's his calling: to serve God in His people.”

Despite the constant demands made on his time, he never felt inclined to jealously guard his quiet time. He does admit, though, that because he likes to “get things done”, he may have allowed his demanding schedule to encroach on his prayer life.

“If I had to live over my priesthood, I think I would try to put myself on guard about that,” he said.

He fought most strenuously, however, to stick to his daily Rosary.   In fact, Fr Andy recalled that once, while in Barbados , he visited a wildlife sanctuary with the bishop. “Halfway through,” said Fr Andy, “he sat down on one of the benches and said, ‘Let's pray the Rosary'.”

As Bishop “Salty” Galt prepares to celebrate 50 years of priesthood, he finally recognises a relation between his nickname and his genuine desire to be present to the people of God, in whatever vineyard he is sent.

“In my more ‘holy' moments, I sometimes think, ‘That's good! I'm salt of the earth!'” he said with a smile, referring to the verse from St Matthew's gospel. “The nickname must have, somehow, summarised what I was.”

And still is, in Fr Andy's view.

For him, and the many people whose lives he has flavoured with his prayer, his ever-available ear and his affectionate humour, Bishop Galt remains, “a simple man; a very simple, genuine, holy priest”.