AMERICA/ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA - Appointment of the Bishop of Saint John's-Basseterre in the Antilles

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - The Holy Father Benedict XVI on November 19, 2011 appointed Rev. Monsignor Kenneth David Oswin Richards, General Vicar of Kingston in Jamaica as Bishop of the Diocese of Saint John's-Basseterre in the Antilles.
Rev. Mgr. Kenneth David Oswin Richards was born in Linstead, St. Catherine, in the Spanish Town area, in Jamaica, on August 16, 1958. Although born in the Antilles, his family is of African origin (sub-Saharan). After his primary studies in the Catholic school of St. Catherine in Linstead, Jamaica, he entered St. Michael Major Seminary, at the University of the West Indies, in Jamaica, where he obtained a Bachelor in Theology. During his studies at the Seminary, he also obtained a licentiate in Moral Theology at the Catholic University of America. He was ordained priest on 29 September 1985. After ordination, he has held the following positions in the Archdiocese of Kingston in Jamaica: 1985-1989: assistant priest at Holy Cross, 1989-1995: Pastor of St. Benedict and the African martyrs, 1995-2003: Pastor of two parishes St. Jude and St. Patrick, 2002-2005: archdiocesan Director of Vocations, 2004-2008: President of the Priests' Council and President of the Priests of the Archdiocese; since 2004: Member of the School Council of St. George's College and Holy Trinity High School, and Director of the Cathedral. Since 2008, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Kingston in Jamaica.
The Diocese of Saint John's-Basseterre (1971), suffragan of the Archdiocese of Castries, has an area of 1,058 square kilometers and a population of 169,787 inhabitants, of whom 14,878 are Catholics. There are 10 parishes, 9 priests, (2 diocesans, 7 religious), 7 sisters and 5 permanent deacons. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 19/11/2011)