Tributes have been pouring in from across the Caribbean and the wider Anglican Communion following Tuesday’s death of Archbishop Drexel Gomez, the Bahamian-born former head of the Anglican Church in the Province of the West Indies, at age 88.
At age 36, he was consecrated Bishop of Barbados on June 24, 1972, and served as head of the diocese for two decades as the first and only Caribbean-born bishop in the diocese’s 200-year history.
He later became Archbishop of the Church in the Province of the West Indies in 1998.
Prime Minister Mia Mottley expressed her condolences for the “soft‑spoken gentleman” in a statement, saying: “[He] was a special person — from his voice, which you could easily identify in any audience, to his ever‑pleasant personality and smiling face.
“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.”
She went on to say: “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.”
Mottley described him further, saying: “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.”
Anglican Bishop of Barbados, the Right Reverend Michael Maxwell, said in a statement: “We thank God for Archbishop Gomez’s life, witness and ministry as Bishop of our Diocese and that of the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, and as Archbishop of our Province and for his contribution within the wider Anglican Communion.
“He served our Church and nation admirably and faithfully for 20 years before he returned to his homeland, the Bahamas, in 1992. Our Diocese extends condolences to his wife Carol, his children and other relatives, and also to the Bishop and Diocese of the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. May his soul rest in peace.”
Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis also paid tribute, describing Gomez as “a shepherd, scholar and servant of the Bahamian people”.
He continued: “I fondly remember his prayerful guidance — especially walking into the Office of the Prime Minister as Prime Minister on the first day, with him by my side. May his steadfast faith, moral clarity and quiet courage continue to guide generations.”
