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Sept.
3, 2002
 Archbishop
Emeritus Samuel E. Carter, S.J., died Sept. 3 at the University of West Indies
Hospital in Kingston, Jamaica, at 83.
Named archbishop of the Archdiocese of Kingston in 1970,
Archbishop Carter, Jamaica’s first native-born Roman
Catholic archbishop, served in this capacity for almost 25
years. During his ministry, he fostered educational opportunities,
spearheaded the ecumenical movement and advocated for the
needs of the poor and the elderly, writing many pastoral
letters in defense of social justice and in opposition to
the death penalty.
At the start of his career, Archbishop Carter taught Latin
for two years and worked as a civil servant for three years
before entering the Jesuit Novitiate, Shadowbrook, in Lenox,
Mass., in 1944. Ten years later, following completion of
his philosophical and theological studies and a year of teaching
in the sociology department at Holy Cross, he was ordained
to the priesthood. He then completed further study in ascetical
theology at St. Beuno’s College in North Wales, England;
earned a master’s degree in social work at Boston College;
and received training in family life and counseling at the
Catholic University in Washington, D.C. Archbishop Carter
returned to Jamaica in 1958 to serve as assistant parish
priest and master of ceremonies at Holy Trinity Cathedral
Parish. He founded Campion College the following year and
served as headmaster until 1964 when he became the rector
at St. George’s College.
Appointed auxiliary bishop of Jamaica in 1966, Archbishop
Carter also had served as pastor of Holy Cross Church in
Kingston, which had been established by Bishop Joseph N.
Dinand, former president of Holy Cross and namesake of the
College library.
Archbishop Carter served as president of the Antilles Conference
of Bishops in 1968 and represented the Antilles Bishops at
the Second Synod in Rome in 1969. He was elected chairman
of the Caribbean Conference of Churches and president of
the Jamaica Council of Churches. Following his retirement
in 1994, he maintained an active ministry, serving as vice
chairman of the Jamaica Foundation for Children; president
of the Commission on Ecumenism; and director and vice chairman
of Citizens Action for Free and Fair Elections.
In 1970, Archbishop Carter received an honorary doctor of
laws degree from Holy Cross, in recognition of “his
priestly service on behalf of the poor,” “his leadership
in the ecumenical movement in the Caribbean region,” and “his
truly broad and apostolic vision.”
He is survived by a brother; and three sisters.
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