Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley today paid tribute to former Anglican Bishop of Barbados and Archbishop of the Province of the West Indies, the Right Reverend Drexel W. Gomez, who passed away earlier today.
In a statement issued this afternoon, Mottley described Archbishop Gomez as a “soft-spoken gentleman” whose warmth, dignity, and leadership left a lasting impact on Barbados and the wider Anglican community.
Below is the full statement from Prime Minister Mottley:
Today, I join with Anglicans across Barbados and the Caribbean to pay respects to a soft-spoken gentleman with Bahamian roots, who made Barbados his home for 20 years, becoming as steeped in local customs and practices as any born Bajan.
Former Anglican Bishop of the Barbados Diocese and Archbishop of the Province of the West Indies, the Right Reverend Drexel W. Gomez, was a special person — from his voice, which you could easily identify in any audience, to his ever-pleasant personality and smiling face.
He also had the distinction of being the last non-Barbadian head of the local Anglican church, ending a tradition that even predated the formation of the Barbados Anglican Diocese in 1824.
I recall, looking back on my days as a girl at the St. Mary’s Anglican Church and St. Michael’s Cathedral, observing and interacting with a Bishop, whose dignity, warmth and ease of communication drew young and old alike to him.
And while my legal and political career had only just started when his tenure as Anglican Bishop of Barbados was coming to a close in 1992, I further recall as a young adult that his warm smile and soft voice were not to be mistaken for weakness or fear. Even as a Bahamian priest who had been transplanted to Barbados to lead a church that was beginning to exert its Barbadianness, he was not afraid to stamp his own authority.
Bishop Gomez spoke out on local social and political issues from the pulpit with all the vigour and comfort that could be expected from a Bajan who had no fear of ever being declared persona non grata. And remember, this was during a period of unmatched robustness in Barbadian politics.
In similar vein, the goodly Bishop was not averse to taking on any challenge from within his own flock, always though, retaining that dignity that should attend a man of the cloth.
His return to his native Bahamas saw him taking up the top post in the Anglican Province of the West Indies, Archbishop, while retaining the respect and admiration of the flock he had watched over in Barbados for two decades.
On behalf of the Government and people of Barbados, I extend sincere condolences to his wife and children, as well as to the entire local Anglican community. May his soul rest in peace and rise in glory.
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