Vatican Ambassador pays first visit to Bermuda

The top Vatican diplomat in charge of Bermuda and the Caribbean areas has paid his first visit to the island.

His Excellency Archbishop Nicola Girasoli, the Papal Nuncio – the Vatican equivalent of an Ambassador – is on the island to help celebrate the 60th anniversary of the official establishment of Bermuda as a diocese in its own right.

Archbishop Girasoli said: “It’s also an opportunity to get to know our churches and church institutions.

“It’s also to say thank you to our priests, our Catholics and the Bishop and give them a word of encouragement.”

He added: “The island is beautiful – I learned before coming here that Bermuda has had some financial struggles in the last few years.

“I was not expecting such a secularized society – when you see the other islands in the region, religion is at the centre of society.”

Recent figures show that the Catholic population of Bermuda has been growing and numbers now almost equal the Anglican faith, the largest on the island, which has seen a decline in its faithful in recent years.

Archbishop Girasoli said: “It’s a good trend, but in the region, we are facing a bit of a decline in the numbers of Catholics – it’s good to hear of that trend in Bermuda.”

He added that mainstream traditional churches like the Anglicans and Methodists had also lost members to newer churches like the Pentecostal faith.”

Archbishop Girasoli, an Italian with years of experience in the Vatican’s diplomatic corps, said: “There are two main challenges that face us. First is the shortage of priests.

“That’s extremely important because the Catholic Church is a sacramental church and they can only be celebrated by an ordained priest.”

And he said the other challenge was that – although people might identify themselves as Catholics – fewer were practicing and going to church.

Archbishop Girasoli said: “The numbers we see going to church is declining. This is very important.”

"Only one Bermudian priest"

Catholic Bishop of Bermuda Robert Kurtz added that the church on island “struggled with vocations to the priesthood and said there was only one Bermudian priest serving.

Archbishop Girasoli said that – as a member of the Vatican diplomatic staff – he could not express an opinion on who might replace Pope Benedict as the head of the 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide.

But he added: “There is a very wide expectation, because Pope Benedict gave up the Papacy because of his age, that the Cardinals might get a sign from the Holy Spirit to appoint someone. There is a big expectation of change and an expectation the Pope could come from Latin America, but I don’t know.”

“It’s quite difficult to say, but I think there will be a really deep and serious meditation. It will be someone who will be a really seen Pope who will travel more because the world is changing and we can’t imagine a Pope closed within the Vatican walls.

“Pope Benedict couldn’t really travel much and today the Pope needs to be present physically around the world.”

Archbishop Girasoli declined to comment on favourites to take over the Throne of St Peter.

He said: “We have a saying in the Vatican – they enter the conclave as a Pope and come out as a Cardinal.”

Bishop of Bermuda Robert Kurtz added that, although the numbers of Catholics had increased in Bermuda, the number of people professing no faith at all had grown, according to the last census, while crime, particularly violent crime, had risen in recent years.

He said: “There is a complete vacuum in terms of morals – they have nothing to cling to and there is a struggle with family life. We have to help build up society and it’s a real challenge for us.”

Archbishop Girasoli – who today met Premier Craig Cannonier – will lead a special service on Sunday at noon in St Theresa’s Cathedral to mark the island’s 60 years as a dicocese of the church.

He is also scheduled to meet other faith leaders from across the island tomorrow.

Catholic priests from Halifax, Nova Scotia, have been serving in Bermuda for 170 years, although it was not until 1953 that the process of creating a diocese in Bermuda started.

Archbishop Patrick Pinder of Nassau in the Bahamas, Archishop Anthony Mancini of Halifax and Bishop Douglas Crosby of Hamilton, Ontario, will also attend the Sunday service.

Archbishop Girasoli represents the Pope and Vatican before the governments of all the countries in the Antilles Episcopal Conference.

The 55-year-old cleric, who has been a priest for more than 30 years, was appointed to the role in 2012.

He was the Vatican’s top diplomat in Zambia and Malawi in Africa and previously served in Papal representations in Indonesia and Australia and has also worked in the Vatican Secretariat of State in the section of general affairs.