Archbishop Gordon marks 15th anniversary of episcopal ordination

“A humbling privilege” was how Archbishop Charles Jason Gordon reflected on his 15 years serving as bishop.

It has been a period of graces from God, he shared, while celebrating Mass at Archbishop’s Chapel, September 21, the day of his episcopal ordination as Bishop of Bridgetown, which occurred in 2011. The passage of time seemed like “two blinks” ago and Archbishop Gordon noted that he served as bishop of four different dioceses: Bridgetown in Barbados; Kingstown in St Vincent and the Grenadines [September 23, 2011]; Port of Spain [December 27, 2017]; and now administrator for Willemstad, Curacao [January 7, 2025]. He said this has allowed him to see different parts of Church and “a good bit of who we are as Church”.

Archbishop Gordon likened his call to priesthood to the call of Matthew, the tax collector.

“I was minding my own business, and they disrupted my life. I thought I was doing good stuff, important stuff, more important than sending me overseas to do all kinds of things but in that, the providence of God is quite something”, he said.

He disclosed that the experience of being bishop of dioceses in Barbados and St Vincent and returning to the Archdiocese of Port of Spain helped him to understand his role. He said: “The role of the bishop is a very different role, one, that in many ways puts you up in the gallery looking on at the action…in other ways it puts you on the frontline working with the things that have to be done and understanding what must be done.”

Archbishop Gordon described being asked to lead the church as bishop as “a humbling privilege”. He said the last years have shown him “significant grace” and he trusted with the people of God.

Through serving, he said, God has “mercied” [sic] him and given the grace to see. He explained: “God has helped me to call the sinner and call those who have experienced themselves as unworthy of being part of Church because of whatever has happened or however, they see themselves”. He thanked the faithful for “putting up” with him and for the years past and years ahead working together.

Archbishop Charles Jason Gordon was born March 17, 1959, to parents Stanley and Rose Mary Gordon, Fr Gordon was ordained a diocesan priest in March 1991 at the age of 32.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he began studies for the priesthood at the Regional Seminary of St John Vianney and the Uganda Martyrs, Mt St Benedict. He continued his studies at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium (1986-88) where he attained both his BA and Master’s in Theology. He later completed his PhD at Heythrop, the Jesuit College in the University of London (1996-2000). It was here that he learned that he was dyslexic.

After his priestly ordination, Fr Gordon lectured at the regional seminary, and he managed a number of projects in the Living Water Community (LWC) including Fountain of Hope and the Marian House for young men.

In an interview with Catholic News in 2009, Fr Gordon said his spiritual journey began while he was a student at Fatima College. After graduating from college, he inherited his father’s failing business and was able to turn it around.

During this time, while searching for his purpose in life, he became involved in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal as a youth member of the LWC. When he was 22, he decided to sell the now-profitable business and became a full-time member of the Community.

In 2003, Fr Gordon was appointed parish priest of Rosary/Gonzales and created projects to improve the Gonzales community which at the time had been deeply affected by gang-related violence. He helped start a homework clinic, an internet café and a project known as CITY (Community Intervention Transforming Youth) programme which had the participation of all the stakeholders in the community—residents and groups in the community, the police, gangs, and their leaders.

In 2007 then Archbishop Edward Gilbert CSsR appointed him to the newly created position of Vicar for Administration. Two years later, Pope Benedict XVI made him a Monsignor.

Msgr Jason Gordon was ordained Bishop of Bridgetown on September 21, 2011, and installed as Bishop of Kingstown, St Vincent and the Grenadines, September 23, 2011. At his ordination, he made it clear that his first task was to listen to and discern where God wants him to lead the Church. Responsibility for the Diocese of Kingstown was reassigned in 2016 with the ordination of Bishop Gerard County CSSp.

In 2017, Archbishop Gordon was appointed the 11th Archbishop of Port of Spain. News of the appointment by Pope Francis was made official on Thursday October 19, 2017, on the Holy See Press Office website. Archbishop Gordon replaced Archbishop Joseph Harris, who submitted his letter of resignation to the Pope in March when he turned 75.

He was installed as the Archbishop on December 27, 2017, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, becoming the third Trinidadian to lead the country’s local Catholic Church following Archbishop Emeritus Joseph Harris CSSp and the late Archbishop Anthony Pantin CSSp.

Archbishop Gordon is the current head of Antilles Episcopal Conference of Bishops and was appointed January 7, 2025 as the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Willemstad, Curacao.