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History of the Dominicans in Trinidad and
Tobago |
| The Dominicans
(Order of Preachers) are a Catholic religious order founded by
Dominic de Guzman in 1215. |
| The history of the Dominican friars here
goes as back as far as 1513, when the
first missionaries – two Spanish Dominicans, Francisco de Cordova and Juan
Graces – set foot in Trinidad. They were also to be the first Christian
martyrs, betrayed by the Spanish soldiers who came with them. |
| After a lapse of 350 years, the Dominican friars returned to Trinidad. They
came in 1864, a party of six friars from the French province of Lyons, who had
been requested by the newly appointed Archbishop Gonin, himself a French
Dominican. On their arrival, they found four secular priests who had charge of
the parish of Port of Spain. |
| Archbishop Gonin and the six Dominicans took ip residence in the Cathedral
presbytery, then situated in George Street. Due to its cramped size, the
decision was made to build a new presbytery and priory nearer to the cathedral.
This site was very difficult, being often under sea and regularly used as a
dumping ground, so the construction took a considerable time. Eventually, on 16th
February 1880, the completed building was blessed. Built in the shape of an H,
and catching the prevailing winds, it could accommodate twenty persons, and
included a large refectory and oratory. A statue of Our Lady of the Immaculate
Conception adorned the center of the garden (this statue can be seen today in
the compound of Nelson Street Girls’ School). This cathedral presbytery was
home to every Dominican who worked in Trinidad and Tobago, and became a byword
for hospitality in the wider region. |
| As early as 1819, the British and the colonial governments made an
arrangement with the Holy See to have the resident bishop a native English
speaker, and the first such appointment was James Buckley, the president of the
Engish College in Lisbon. The issue of language surfaced with Archbishop Gonin
and the French friars, and prompted by Pope Leo XIII, the master of the order
decided in 1895 to transfer the charge of the mission to the friars of the Irish
province. As a result, Augustine Coveney was appointed superior of the Dominican
friars in Trinidad, and in 1897 a contract was signed between Archbishop flood
and the Master of the Order confirming the transfer. About half of the French
friars chose to return to France, the remainder staying to work alongside their
Irish brethren. In all, seventeen French friars worked and died in Trinidad
between 1897 and 1933, when the last one, Fr. Eusebe Poulat, died as parish
priest of Tortuga. |
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Continued
on page 2 |
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