Antilles Bishops bring Caribbean realities to heart of Universal Church

Vatican News

Archbishop Charles Jason Gordon, President of the Antilles Episcopal Conference (AEC), has described the bishops’ ad limina Apostolorum visit to Rome as a privileged moment of communion, encounter, and exchange between the local Churches of the Caribbean and the universal Church.

Speaking to Vatican News during the bishops’ 2026 visit, Archbishop Gordon reflected on the significance of the pilgrimage, calling it “a very special moment in the life of a bishop, and in the life of the Conference of Bishops.”

The Archbishop, who also serves as Archbishop of Port of Spain, noted that the visit offers bishops a unique opportunity to gather in the Eternal City and engage directly with the Holy See’s Dicasteries.

A moment of communion and listening

“We come to the Holy City, to the Eternal City, to find communion, to listen deeply to the heartbeat of the Church,” he said, “but also to share the particularity of the mission in our context with the different Dicasteries that we meet.”

Highlighting the reciprocal nature of the ad limina encounter, Archbishop Gordon said the exchange between the universal and local Church enriches both.

“The Church is universal, but the Church is also particular,” he said. “In this exchange between universal and particular, there are always great riches that we walk away with.”

He explained that the experience of local Churches can also help the universal Church reflect more deeply on pastoral realities from fresh perspectives.

Bishop Charles Jordan Gordon and one of his brother bishops during the meeting at the Dicastery for Communications {"@context": "http://schema.org","@type": "ImageObject","contentUrl": "https://www.vaticannews.va/content/dam/vaticannews/multimedia/2026/aprile/27/1_c.jpg/_jcr_content/renditions/cq5dam.thumbnail.cropped.750.422.jpeg","creditText": "Vatican News","height": "750","width": "422"} Evangelising the digital continent

Among the first meetings of the Caribbean bishops’ visit was an encounter with the Dicastery for Communication, where discussions focused on the Church’s mission in the digital world.

Archbishop Gordon stressed that while social media presents undeniable risks, those dangers cannot deter the Church from evangelising in the digital sphere.

“There are dangers in social media,” he said, “but there are dangers crossing the street, dangers travelling from one part of the country to another. Those dangers cannot stop us from bringing the Gospel into all creation, into all spheres of life and activity.”

Echoing Pope Benedict XVI’s description of the internet as the “digital continent,” Archbishop Gordon said the Church must embrace its missionary responsibility online.

“It is a place where we have to be missionaries also,” he said, “not just to bring the message there, but also to shape the interaction in digital media.”

He explained that Christians are called to help ensure digital communication becomes “more human” and “more humanising,” so that online spaces may better guide people in their search for truth and meaning.

A moment of the meeting {"@context": "http://schema.org","@type": "ImageObject","contentUrl": "https://www.vaticannews.va/content/dam/vaticannews/multimedia/2026/aprile/27/1_b.jpg/_jcr_content/renditions/cq5dam.thumbnail.cropped.750.422.jpeg","creditText": "Vatican News","height": "750","width": "422"} Bringing Caribbean challenges to Rome

Turning to the realities facing the Church in the Caribbean, Archbishop Gordon highlighted climate vulnerability, migration, and family life as among the region’s most pressing pastoral concerns.

“In our region, we are the second most vulnerable region for climate change, and that is always a major issue,” he said, noting the grave threats posed by rising sea levels, hurricanes, and environmental degradation to Caribbean nations.

Migration, too, remains a defining challenge.

Recalling the impact of the Venezuelan crisis and wider regional instability, Archbishop Gordon said countries such as Trinidad and Tobago have received “thousands and thousands of migrants” from Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba, and elsewhere in the Caribbean and Latin America.

He also pointed to the unique historical experience of Caribbean family life, shaped by centuries of colonialism and the plantation system.

“We have had a 400-year structure of families disrupted through the plantation system,” he explained, noting that this has produced family dynamics and pastoral realities distinct from many other parts of the world.

A moment of the meeting {"@context": "http://schema.org","@type": "ImageObject","contentUrl": "https://www.vaticannews.va/content/dam/vaticannews/multimedia/2026/aprile/27/1_a.jpg/_jcr_content/renditions/cq5dam.thumbnail.cropped.750.422.jpeg","creditText": "Vatican News","height": "750","width": "422"} Challenges as opportunities for grace

Archbishop Gordon said the purpose of bringing these realities to the Vatican is not merely to present difficulties, but to contribute the Caribbean’s particular experience to the wider discernment of the Church.

“The hope is to bring this peculiarity, this particularity, to the universal conversation,” he said.

In doing so, he added, the bishops seek to receive and offer light that can help transform challenges into opportunities for mission.

“To see our mission and see the challenges,” he said, “not just as challenges, but also as grace and opportunities for evangelisation.”

A moment of the meeting {"@context": "http://schema.org","@type": "ImageObject","contentUrl": "https://www.vaticannews.va/content/dam/vaticannews/multimedia/2026/aprile/27/1_d.jpg/_jcr_content/renditions/cq5dam.thumbnail.cropped.750.422.jpeg","creditText": "Vatican News","height": "750","width": "422"}