Cardinal Kelvin Edward Felix passes away

Upon learning of the death of Cardinal Kelvin Edward Felix, Archbishop emeritus of Castries, who passed away on Thursday, 30 May, Pope Francis sent a telegram expressing his condolences to Archbishop Gabriel Malzaire. The following is the English text of the telegram sent on Friday, 31 May, followed by a short biography of the late Cardinal.

Saddened to learn of the death of Cardinal Kelvin Edward Felix, Archbishop emeritus of Castries, I send prayerful condolences to you, the clergy, religious and lay faithful of the Archdiocese, as well as to the Church in the West Indies. Recalling with deep gratitude the late Cardinal’s many years of dedicated episcopal ministry in Saint Lucia, especially his efforts in fostering the education of young people and his contribution to the Church throughout the Caribbean, I willingly join you in commending his soul to the love and mercy of our Heavenly Father. To those present at the Mass of Christian burial, and to all who mourn his passing in the sure hope of the Resurrection, I cordially impart my blessing as a pledge of consolation and peace in the Risen Lord.

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Cardinal Kelvin Edward Felix, Archbishop emeritus of Castries (Saint Lucia, Antilles, West Indies), was born in Roseau, Dominica, on 15 February 1933. He studied at the St. John Vianney seminary in Trinidad, and was ordained a priest on 8 April 1956. He was the first diocesan priest from Roseau and the first Catholic priest to be ordained in Dominica.

After several years of pastoral work in Dominica, from 1962 he attended St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, where he obtained a degree in education in 1963; in 1967, he completed a Master’s degree in sociology and anthropology at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. He furthered his postgraduate studies in sociology at the University of Bradford, Yorkshire, England, graduating in 1970. While in England he made great efforts in aid of the Dominican immigrant community. He taught at the Seminary of St. John Vianney and served as professor of Sociology at the University of the West Indies of St. Augustine.

He was appointed Archbishop of Castries on 17 July 1981, and he received episcopal consecration on 5 October of the same year. His pastoral governance of the diocese continued until 15 February 2008.

He served as president of the Conference of Churches of the Caribbean, president of the Antilles Episcopal Conference and apostolic administrator of the diocese of Bridgetown, Barbados, and as a member of the Pontifical Council for the Family, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, and the Synod Council for America.

He was created and proclaimed Cardinal by Pope Francis in the consistory of 22 February 2014, of the Title of Santa Maria della Salute a Primavalle (Our Lady of Health at Primavalle).

Cardinal Kelvin Edward Felix died on Thursday, 30 May 2024, at the Abbey of Our Lady of the Assumption, Mount of Prayer (Coubaril). He was 91 years old. His funeral will take place on Wednesday morning, 12 June, in the minor basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Castries.