Following is an edited statement on the appointment of Bishop-elect Fr Neil Sebastian Scantlebury.
The Holy Father, Pope Francis has appointed Fr Neil Sebastian Scantlebury, 55, to be the next bishop of the Diocese of Bridgetown, making him the first Barbadian to be ordained a Catholic bishop.
The announcement was made on Monday, December 28 at noon, Vatican City time. The date set for episcopal ordination is Wednesday, March 17 at St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Cathedral, Bridgetown.
March 17 is the feast day of St Patrick.
Bishop-elect Scantlebury will succeed Archbishop Jason Gordon, who has been serving as Apostolic Administrator for the Diocese of Bridgetown since his appointment as Archbishop of Port of Spain, in 2017.
The Bishop-elect has been serving in the Diocese of St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands since his ordination to the priesthood on May 18, 1995.
He was born on October 1, 1965 to Deacon Keith Scantlebury, and Myrna Scantlebury, both now deceased.
After completing his primary and secondary education in Barbados, Scantlebury entered the St Augustine campus, The University of the West Indies, in Trinidad, graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering.
The Bishop-elect then moved to the US Virgin Islands to teach religion at the Catholic school of St Peter and Paul Cathedral, St Thomas.
He was accepted as a candidate for the priesthood, and sent to Mount St Mary’s University, Emmitsburg, Maryland, United States. After earning his master’s in divinity, he was ordained a priest for the Diocese of St Thomas on May 18, 1995. In 1999, he obtained the Master of Art in Sacred Scripture at the same university.
Bishop-elect Scantlebury served as parochial Vicar at Holy Family Church, St Thomas from 1995 to 1997. In August 1997, he was appointed administrator of Our Lady of Mt Carme. (PR)
