Who was the first Bahamian Bishop of the Catholic Church?

Answer 1

Michael Hartley Eldon (1931-2011) was an Anglican bishop in the 20th century. Born on 8 August 1931 and educated at St Catharine's College, Cambridge he was ordained in 1955. After curacies in Nassau he spent nine years on Grand Bahama, becoming archdeacon of the island.

Answer 2

This is from the Catholic Encyclopedia, it would appear that the first priest to set foot on the Islands was Father Duquesney, but the first name we have of a priest who stayed was Bishop Paul Leonard Hagarty.

Though there existed a tradition of ruins of "religious" buildings being still visible in 1803 on Cat Island (probably dating from the temporary Spanish occupation of 1781-83), there is no evidence of any Catholic priest ever having visited the Bahamas until 1845, when a Father Duquesney, on a voyage from Jamaica to Charleston, S. C., U. S. A. made a stay of six weeks at Nassau, and held services in a private house with perhaps a few Catholic Cubans or Haitians present. In 1863 Rev. J.W. Cummings of New York, and in 1865 a Rev. T. Byrne spent each a few weeks in Nassau, and conducted services. Beginning with 1866, the Rev. Dr. Nelligan of Charleston made several visits, and the Bahamas were recognized in the public prints as belonging ecclesiastically to Charleston, S.C. In 1883 Bishop H.P. Northrop of that diocese paid a short visit. At his request the Propaganda, in a letter dated 28 July, 1885, requested the Archbishop of New York to look after the spiritual interests of the Bahamas, and since that date they have been under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of New York.

This excerpt is from the Archdiocese of Nassau's website:Our mission period formally began in 1837 when the Holy See placed the "Lucayan or Bahama Islands" under the authority of the newly established Vicariate Apostolic of Jamaica.

In the 19th century, priests who made brief visits, undertook challenging, even life threatening journeys by sea to minister to those early Catholics who endured long periods without the sacraments. Priests of the Diocese of Charleston and the Archdiocese of New York spent several months of the year in these islands to make up for the lack of a resident clergy.

On July 5, 1960, the Vicariate of the Bahama Islands was raised to the dignity of a Diocese. Paul Leonard Hagarty-- a Benedictine priest of St John's Abbey, Minnesota -- was installed as first Bishop of the Diocese of Nassau.