The bishop of Jamaica, Howard Gregory, has been elected to the position of Archbishop of the West Indies. As the new Primate and Archbishop of the Church of the Province of the West Indies, he is the first Jamaican-born individual to serve as Archbishop of the West Indies. He was elected over the Bishop of Belize, Phillip Wright. The election occurred during the 40th Synod of the province that was underway in Port of Spain, St. Ann, in Trinidad at the Cascadia Hotel. Howard Gregory will succeed Archbishop John Holder, who retired in February 2019 as Bishop of Barbados.

While Archbishop Howard Gregory is the first Jamaican-born Archbishop of the West Indies, he is not the first Bishop of Jamaica to serve in the position. Archbishop Enos Nuttall, who served as Bishop of Jamaica between 1880 and 1916, and Archbishop William Hardie, who served Jamaica between 1931 and 1949, preceded him to the elected post. Additionally, Bishop Orland Lindsay served in Jamaica before serving as Archbishop while being Bishop of Antigua between 1986 and 1998.

After his election, Archbishop Howard Gregory, listed several issues facing the Church in the West Indies, including the need to address human trafficking, matters relating to marijuana, and the issue of abortion. He stated that “as a church, we certainly have to be a part of the engagement of the society bring in some perspectives to bear on these things, not just out of emotion, not just political partisan in any way but to bring our theological and biblical perspective to bear on these situations.”

The new Anglican Archbishop of the West Indies Howard Gregory is 68 years of age and has been a member of the priesthood for 45 years. He is the 14th Archbishop of Jamaica. He broke with his Christian brothers in 2017 to support a parliamentary committee that would recommend the removal of the offense of buggery from the law books.

Photo Source: Diocese of Jamaica & The Cayman Islands