Robert Rivas

Robert Rivas was born on 7 June 1946 in the village of La Pastora, Arouca, Trinidad and Tobago, to Sabina and Placido Rivas. He had one sister and five brothers. After finishing secondary school at the Dominican College of Holy Cross in Arima, he entered the novitiate of the Irish Province of the Dominican Order at St Mary's Priory, Cork, Ireland, and continued formation at the Dominican House of Studies in Tallaght, Dublin. Following ordination he earned a licence in theology at the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas in Rome and a diploma in communications after radio and television production training in Ireland.

After returning to Trinidad he served at St Theresa's, Woodbrook, Port of Spain, under Damian Byrne, later Master of the Order of Preachers, then in other Trinidad parishes, social communications, campus ministry at UWI St Augustine, and Dominican formation. From 1985 to 1989 he was special delegate of the Master of the Order for Caribbean Dominican unity. Appointed first Bishop of Kingstown on 28 October 1989 and consecrated on 22 January 1990, he founded and led that diocese, later serving as Apostolic Administrator of Bridgetown (2005). Named coadjutor archbishop of Castries on 19 July 2007 and installed as metropolitan, he led the Archdiocese of Castries until 2022, while holding AEC and regional seminary leadership roles and preaching missions across the Caribbean and the United States.

A Dominican friar (Order of Preachers), Rivas combined pastoral work with civic engagement. In Saint Vincent and the Grenadines he chaired or served on bodies addressing family life, violence, crime prevention, and police oversight, and led the national Christian Council. He edited diocesan materials, issued pastoral letters, and spoke at international gatherings including World Youth Day in Toronto (2002) and conferences for priests, charismatic renewal, Couples for Christ, and Caribbean electoral organisations. Colleagues and parishioners knew him as a mission preacher who moved easily between pulpits, retreat houses, and public forums.

In July 2026 Archbishop Emeritus Rivas was admitted to West Shore Medical Private Hospital in Cocorite, Trinidad, for treatment of discitis and related complications that left him largely bedridden and requiring prolonged intravenous antibiotics. The St Finbar's Dominican Community and relatives launched a public appeal for medical expenses as insurance coverage fell. Catholic News of Trinidad and Tobago reported on his condition in August 2026. He died in his sleep on 27 September 2026 at the age of 80.

Rivas is remembered as the founding bishop of Kingstown and as Archbishop of Castries during a formative period for the eastern Caribbean Church. He was the first Caribbean-born Dominican raised to the episcopate in the region in modern times, a bridge between Dominican formation houses and island dioceses, and a steady voice on family life, youth, seminary education, and social peace. His preaching, writing, and conference leadership linked Trinidadian roots with pastoral service in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Saint Lucia.