 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Catholic Church in the Bahamas" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(August 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 |
| Part ofa series on the |
| Catholic Church |
|---|
 St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City |
| Overview |
Miscellaneous |
Links and resources |
 Catholic Church portal |
TheCatholic Church in the Bahamas is part of the worldwideCatholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of thePope inRome. Columbus landed on one of the islands of the Bahamas in 1492 which he named San Salvador.
The Catholic Church became organized in The Bahamas in the mid-19th century, and in the second part of the century American influence became even more important, so that in 1885 the islands — considered as part of the US diocese of Charleston since 1866 — were formally included in the Archdiocese of New York. This "American connection" lasted until 1931, when the islands were erected into a separate Apostolic Prefecture, which was elevated to the rank of Apostolic Vicariate in 1941.[1]
According to the 1907Catholic Encyclopedia:
"Though there existed a tradition of ruins of "religious" buildings being still visible in 1803 onCat Island (probably dating from the temporary Spanish occupation of 1781–83), there is no evidence of any Catholic priest ever having visited the Bahamas until 1845, when a Father Duquesney, on a voyage fromJamaica toCharleston,South Carolina, stayed six weeks atNassau and held services in a private house. In 1863 Reverend J.W. Cummings of New York, and in 1865 a Reverend T. Byrne each spent a few weeks in Nassau, and conducted services. Beginning with 1866, the Reverend Dr. Nelligan of Charleston made several visits, and the Bahamas was included in the Diocese of Charleston. In 1883 Bishop H.P. Northrop of that diocese paid a short visit. In a letter dated 28 July 1885, he requested the Archbishop of New York to look after the spiritual interests of the Bahamas, and since that date they have been under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of New York.".[2]
"In February, 1885, the Reverend C. G. O'Keeffe of New York, while visiting Nassau, organized the few Catholics, with the result that on 25 August 1885, the cornerstone of the first Catholic Church in the Bahamas was laid by Georgina Ayde-Curran, wife of Surgeon Major Ayde-Curran of the British Army. On 13 February 1887, it was dedicated under the patronage of St. Francis Xavier, by Archbishop M.A. Corrigan of New York. Father O'Keeffe, to whom belongs the honour of establishing the first Catholic Church in the Bahamas, remained in charge until 1889. In October, 1889, Rev. D. P. O'Flynn came to Nassau with four Sisters of Charity from Mount St. Vincent, New York, who opened a free school for non-white children, and a select school. In June, 1890, Reverend D. P. O'Flynn was succeeded by Reverend B. J. Reilly. In February, 1891, Reverend Chrysostom Schreiner,OSB, of St. John's Abbey, Minnesota, took charge of the mission. In 1893 a new mission was opened at Salvador Point,Andros Island, and in 1897, the Sacred Heart mission was opened in the eastern portion of the city of Nassau."[2]
Today, theArchdiocese of Nassau encompasses the islands of the former British colony of theBahamas. The Archdiocese is the Metropolitan See responsible for the suffragan diocese ofHamilton in Bermuda and theMission sui iuris ofTurks and Caicos, both British overseas territories. The archdiocese is a member of theAntilles Episcopal Conference.
The diocese was originally erected as the Prefecture Apostolic of the Bahama in March 1929, and was subsequently elevated to the Vicariate Apostolic of the Bahama Islands in January 1941, and to a full diocese, as the diocese of Nassau, in June 1960. On June 22, 1999, the diocese was elevated as the Archdiocese of Nassau.
As of 2004, the diocese contains 30 parishes, 15 active diocesan priests, 13 permanent deacons, several religious priests, and 48,000 Catholics. It also has 28 Women Religious. Catholics make up 19% of population.[3]
This article incorporates text from the entryThe Bahama Islands in thepublic-domainCatholic Encyclopedia of 1907.
| Bible (Scriptures) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foundations | |||||||||
| History (timeline) (spread) |
| ||||||||
| Denominations (list,members) |
| ||||||||
| Theology |
| ||||||||
| Philosophy | |||||||||
| Other features |
| ||||||||
History of theCatholic Church | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General | |||||||||
| Early Church (30–325/476) |
| ||||||||
| Early Middle Ages | |||||||||
| High Middle Ages |
| ||||||||
| Late Middle Ages | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| 19th century | |||||||||
| 20th century |
| ||||||||
| 21st century | |||||||||
