It felt like a long wait but Catholics in Grenada now have their Bishop.

They are happy, hopeful and looking ahead. The Catholic News got the views of some members of the congregation attending the ordination at the Spice Basket Theatre. They were asked: “What are your hopes for your new Bishop and the Church in Grenada?”

Bernadette Joseph: Sacristan, Holy Spirit RC, Mt Parnassus: “I would like to see a lot of emphasis placed on our youth, giving them direction, guidance, and that the whole church will walk together with the new Bishop for upliftment of the Catholic faith in Grenada. I say that in light of the fact we have so many new churches popping up and our population as Catholics is dwindling; I see it in churches I visit and I am a little bit concerned.”

Mary Noel, 80, St David Parish: “Thank God first of all. I am just praising God and pray for him [Bishop Harvey] to persevere.”

Thompson Crosby, 80, St Mark Parish: “I think that our Church will be much the better with a Caribbean bishop not only one from our sister island (Trinidad) but one who has had knowledge of Grenada. He has been here, took his oath as deacon in Grenada and been here on diverse occasions…we have been hearing about him and he is a people’s man…I think he will be doing wonders in our Grenada. We look forward to his leadership as our shepherd.”

Cheryl-Ann Gibbs, confirmation teacher, St Martin de Porres, Crochu, St Andrew Parish: “I am ecstatic because I knew Fr Harvey from Trinidad because I frequent Trinidad; I know he is a dynamic person. I don’t know what his plans are but I am looking forward that something is done to revive especially the youth arm of the Church and make sure they get involved. Too often nowadays they disappear rather quickly, so I would like to see some form of programmes, intervention, forums for them so we can hold them so they can be more dynamic and be leaders to take over from people like me.”

Joshua Redhead, 14, St Andrew the Apostle Church, Grenville: “I hope in general that he is going to be the leader for the Church, set an example as the Bishop in the past did and to just follow him as the shepherd of Christ.”

Ali Noel, 15 years: “I hope he has new ideas to bringing people to Church and make people more involved in Church.”

Derek Adonis, media practitioner, Grenada: “We’ve been in transition for such a long time with the death of Bishop Vincent Darius. There was such a malaise in the diocese so there are great expectations for the arrival of whoever God would send to us. I don’t think we could have had a better choice; God and the Holy Spirit, prayers of the people have really given us a good bishop. My expectations are that he will really pull us together. There was a little demoralisation of the flock. We are really looking forward to the bishop really bringing us together as Catholic people in this diocese and giving the Church once again a voice. I am expecting him to provide good leadership…I am also hoping he can foster a greater interest in vocations; there is a dire need for that.”