Catholic bishop-elect, Gerard County, arrived in St. Vincent on Tuesday and will be ordained Bishop for the Kingstown Diocese on Feb. 20 at 10 a.m. at the Community College.
County is from Trinidad and Tobago and was ordained as a priest in January 1996.
After his ordination, he was sent to the Spiritan mission in Mexico where he served for the past 19 years in a number of ministries with the congregation. He is fluent in Spanish and has a passion for young people and a deep sense of community.
The bishop-elect stated that he is all about inclusion, adding that through baptism everyone is grafted on to Christ and as such become members of his body.
He intends to find creative ways to reach out to society, especially to those on the periphery, but this, he says, he will do with the assistance of God along with his brothers and sisters in Christ.
The new bishop says that he wants to remind Vincentians that Christ came for all and that Christians are to avoid being selective in whom they minister and reach out to.
He further highlighted that it his ordination is not about him or the ceremony but one for the people of St. Vincent and Grenadines.
“Vincentians are not to see this event as one for Catholics only, but for all as we are one in the body of Christ.”
County replaces Bishop Charles Jason Gordon to whom Vincentian Catholics said farewell during a mass at the Cathedral of the Assumption on Feb. 2.
Gordon has led both the Kingstown (SVG) and Bridgetown (Barbados) dioceses for the last four and a half years.
He will continue in the Barbados district as resident Bishop.
During the Bishop’s time in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, he has been concerned with the well-being of Vincentians.
He has followed carefully matters of national importance.
Moreover, he has a deep yearning for the restoration of the unity of Christians.
“It, therefore, came as no surprise that in his homily, he asked that the congregation be, ‘a light the darkness cannot overpower’,” the church said in a statement.
He further added that, “True happiness comes from living the vocation God calls us to … Do not be afraid.”
The Bishop challenged the congregation to become authentic disciples — people who are willing to consecrate their lives to Christ.
He reminded all that through baptism, “we” become members of Christ and must bear witness to this reality by being disciples in the world.