Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 02, 2019 (SKNIS): His Lordship, The Most Reverend Robert A. Llanos, who was recently appointed as the Bishop of the Diocese of St. Johns – Basseterre presented his credentials to the Honourable Vance Amory, Senior Minister and Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs, during a courtesy call on Monday, April 01, 2019, at his office at Government Headquarters.
His Lordship was appointed as the Bishop of the Diocese of St. Johns – Basseterre, which includes Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, Montserrat and St. Kitts and Nevis on February 03, 2019. The Bishop will be in the Federation from April 1-11.
During his meeting with Senior Minister Amory, His Lordship used the occasion to compliment the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis for having a strong relationship with the church.
“I think generally the government in St. Kitts and Nevis has a better relationship with the churches. I think there is a much more respectful understanding between the two here. I really appreciate the experience and I had a sense the government here is grounded in the church,” he said, while commenting on the State Service for Independence 35 at the St. George’s Anglican Church. “I can hear from what was said that the government had a very clear mandate that everything comes under God and which of course is the most sensible thing to do.”
Senior Minister Amory outlined the intention of the government since taking office in 2015.
“What we have sought to do is really to forge a stronger collaborative link with the churches, not just to wait until we want to have a national service or if we have crisis. We think that those things should come as a matter of course, but we think that the church and the state could do much more together to deal with challenges in social development,” said Minister Amory.
Minister Amory touched on the issue of violence and noted that it would be important to have the support of the churches.
“We have the instance of violence flaring up now and again. How do we engage the church to work along with the government through whichever ministry to deal with the challenge in our community in order to get people to adopt and want to live a different life?” he asked, while drawing reference to the Constitution of St. Kitts and Nevis which has as a preamble that St. Kitts and Nevis is a nation under God. “We want to work with the church in ways to have that as a general mode of behaviour in St. Kitts and Nevis.”
His Lordship also used the occasion to discuss the role the church can play in the continued spiritual and temporal development of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis.
