Robert Rivas (born 7 June 1946) is a prelate of the

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who was archbishop of the

Castries Castries () is the capital city, capital and largest city of Saint Lucia, an island country in the Caribbean. The urban area has a population of approximately 20,000, while the eponymous Castries Quarter, district has a population of just under ...

St. Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

from 2008 to 2022.

Early life

Rivas was born in the village of La Pastora, Arouca,

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

, on June 7, 1946. He is the son of the late Sabina and Placido Rivas, and has one sister and five brothers. Having completed his secondary studies in the Dominican College of Holy Cross, Arima, he entered the novitiate of the Irish Province of the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

in St. Mary's Priory, Cork,

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, and subsequently to the Dominican House of Studies, in St. Mary's, Tallaght, Dublin. After ordination in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Port of Spain, by Archbishop Anthony Pantin on June 27, 1971, he went to the

Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) The Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (PUST), also known as the ''Angelicum'' or ''Collegio Angelico'' (in honor of its patron, the ''Doctor Angelicus'' Thomas Aquinas), is a pontifical university located in the historic center of R ...

, Rome, where he obtained the Licence in Theology. After

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, he returned to

where he successfully completed a course in radio and television production and received a diploma in communications.

Career

On his return to Trinidad and Tobago he spent his first two years of ministry at St Theresa’s, Woodbrook,

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, under the direction of the future master of the

Order of Preachers The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilian priest named Dominic de Guzmán. It was approved by Pope Honorius ...

, Rev. Damian Byrne. He continued in parish ministry for another three years in South and North East

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. The following years were devoted to involvement in social communications, campus ministry at

the University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the Tertiary education, higher education needs of the residents of 18 English-speaking Country, cou ...

, St Augustine Campus, and the formation of young Dominicans for the priesthood and religious life. During this time he completed a programme in spiritual direction. From 1985 to 1989, in addition to his work in formation, he served as a special Delegate of the Master of the

, to promote the unity of the order among the vicariates in the Caribbean. He was the first Dominican in the Caribbean to be appointed to this position. On October 28, 1989, his appointment as the first

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the newly created Diocese of Kingstown in St Vincent and the Grenadines was announced in

. He was consecrated Bishop of Kingstown on January 22, 1990. He has the distinction of being the first Caribbean-born Dominican to become a bishop in the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

in 500 years of evangelisation. On May 31, 2005, he was appointed

Apostolic Administrator An apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

of the Diocese of Bridgetown,

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."Bishop Rivas appointed to St.Lucia"
CatholicNews-tt.net. July 29, 2007. Retrieved October 4, 2007. As he approached his retirement age,

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 archdi ...

Kelvin Felix of the Archdiocese of Castries requested of the Vatican that a co-adjutor archbishop be appointed to ensure a smooth transition in the Archdiocese. On July 19, 2007 Bishop Robert Rivas of the Diocese of Kingstown was appointed Co-adjutor Archbishop of the Diocese of Castries. He was presented on October 14, 2007."New archbishop comes to St. Lucia"
htsstlucia.com. July 20, 2007. Retrieved October 4, 2007.

Activities

Bishop Rivas has served as the chairperson of the Family and Life Commission for the Antilles Episcopal Conference (AEC), as a member of the Commission for Social Communications (Decos), of the Council of Bishops of Latin America (CELAM) and the chairperson of the National Committee Against Violence in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG). He served as President of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Christian Council, Chairperson of the National Monitoring and Consultative Mechanism (NMCM), the National Consultative Committee (NCC) and the Police Oversight Committee. He also served as visitator of the Regional Seminary of St John Vianney and the Uganda Martyrs and as a member of the Pontifical Council for Latin America (CAL). Presently, Archbishop Rivas is the vice president of the National Committee on Crime Prevention (NCCP) and President of the SVG Christian Council. He is the chairman of Board of the Regional Seminary, chairman of the AEC Youth Commission and a member of the AEC Liturgical Commission. Bishop Rivas preaches extensively promoting the missions through Mission Appeals in the USA as well as conducting parish missions and retreats for clergy and religious within the Caribbean and the continental USA. He is the editor of the '' Catholic Way'', a diocesan publication, produced his first Pastoral Letter for the Jubilee Year 2000, and published the documents of Assembly ’90 and ’98 which are significant documents outlining the Pastoral Plan and development for the Diocese of Kingstown. He is the founding bishop of the Diocese of Kingstown. As an international speaker he has addressed the National Conference of the Cursillo Movement in the USA, National Conference of Charismatic Renewal in USA, Couples for Christ in the USA and the Caribbean, the National Conference for the Directors of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the USA, International Conference for Priests in

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as well as a Festival for Youth from all over the world in Medjugorje. He also addressed an OAS Conference at the Second Assembly of the Association of Caribbean Electoral Organizations in

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

on the “Role of Civil Society and Political Parties in the Electoral Process”. He was also a speaker at

World Youth Day World Youth Day (WYD) is an event for the youth organized by the Catholic Church that was initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1985. Its concept has been influenced by the Light-Life Movement that has existed in Poland since the 1960s, where dur ...

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(2002). He addressed the Union of Bicol Priests in Naga City, Philippines in 2006.

References

External links

Archbishop Robert Rivas, O.P.
on Catholic Hierarchy {{DEFAULTSORT:Rivas, Robert Living people 1946 births Saint Lucian Roman Catholic archbishops 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Caribbean 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the Caribbean Trinidad and Tobago Roman Catholics Bishops in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago expatriates in Barbados Expatriates in Saint Lucia Trinidad and Tobago expatriates in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Roman Catholic bishops Roman Catholic bishops of Bridgetown Dominican bishops Roman Catholic archbishops of Castries Roman Catholic bishops of Kingstown