The Prime Minister of Jamaica has released a statement of condolence upon the death of the country’s former Anglican Bishop, Neville DeSouza

The Prime Minister of Jamaica, Portia Simpson Miller has released a statement of condolence upon the death of the country’s former Anglican Bishop, the Rt. Rev. & Hon. Neville DeSouza, who died on 12 Dec 2015. He was 87. Educated at St Peter’s College in Jamaica, Bishop DeSouza was a parish priest in the diocese before being elected Suffragan Bishop of Montego Bay in 1973. In 1979 he was elected Bishop of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, serving until retirement in 2000 and was chairman of the Caribbean Conference of Churches from 1972-81. The bishop “served the people” of Jamaica “with humility and diligence,” the prime minister said, noting “that during his tenure as the head of the Anglican Church in Jamaica, Rev. DeSouza presided over the historic ordination of women to the Ministry for the first time in the history of the Anglican Church in Jamaica.” Mrs. Simpson Miller said the late bishop “was known, respected and loved for his service, not only to the Anglican Church, but to several other denominations and non-religious causes.”