Bishop Malcom Galt has died

BISHOP Emeritus Malcolm Galt, CSSp, died peacefully on Sunday. He was 93.

A post on the Archdiocese of Port of Spain's Facebook page on Sunday said that Galt died at Our Lady of Fatima College Community, St James, Port of Spain.

Galt was appointed Roman Catholic Bishop of Bridgetown, Barbados in 1995. He served the Barbadian diocese for 20 until his retirement in 2005, at age 75, as mandated by canon law. As of July, he was an ordained priest for 67 years.

Galt was born in July 1929, the third of six children and grew up at Jerningham Place, Belmont. He became an acolyte (altar server) at age seven in the Dominican-order Rosary church on Henry Street, Port of Spain. His mother Marguerite Galt attended mass daily.

Galt told the Catholic News in 2005, "My mother was a saint. If she is not in heaven, forget it! There is no heaven!"

Galt attended St Joseph's Convent in Port of Spain which had a junior boys department. Afterwards, he attended St Mary's College where he got the nickname Salty. He joined the order of Holy Ghost Fathers which managed St Mary's and taught there briefly.

Galt pursued seminary studies in Montreal, Canada and was ordained in Ireland in 1955.

In 1956, he was sent on missionary work in Nigeria, until civil war broke out in the 1960s.

Galt returned to Trinidad in 1971 where he was made local Provincial of the Holy Ghost Fathers.

He subsequently served local parishes including: Our Lady of Fatima in Curepe, Santa Rosa in Arima and St Anthony's in Petit Valley, until he was called to Barbados.

Galt, according to a 2005 report in the Catholic News, said he wanted to be remembered "as the bishop who was close to his people, who was always approachable and always had time for them.

"That is why I tried to always be visible – not so much to the nation, certainly not – but visible to our communities, accepting every invitation that I could to meet the people."

After his work in Barbados came to an end, he returned to serve the faithful in Trinidad, once again in Santa Rosa and at St Philip and St James in Chaguanas.

A Facebook post from the Archdiocese of Port of Spain said funeral arrangement are being arranged.