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Bishops from across the Caribbean region, members of the Antilles Episcopal Conference (AEC), have wrapped up a pivotal 14-day pilgrimage to Rome that merged a mandatory Vatican visit with the organization’s annual governing gathering. Held between April 27 and May 8, the multi-faceted trip brought regional church leaders together for three core objectives: formal meetings with top Holy See officials, collective spiritual renewal, and collaborative conversations about the future trajectory of the Catholic Church across the Caribbean.

The first five days of the visit, the official Ad Limina Apostolorum, were dedicated to structured engagements with Vatican leadership. During this period, the AEC delegation held an audience with the Holy Father, alongside working sessions with leaders of more than a dozen key Vatican departments and administrative bodies. These discussions covered a wide range of critical church priorities, from clergy formation and educational policy to doctrinal guidance, family ministry, liturgical practice, global human development initiatives, and ecumenical efforts to advance Christian unity. The bishops also met with leadership of two high-priority Vatican bodies: the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, in addition to holding talks with the Vatican Secretariat of State.

In an official statement released following the pilgrimage, the AEC highlighted the papal audience as the centerpiece of the entire trip. The conference described the encounter as “profoundly enriching, encouraging, and deeply pastoral,” noting that the meeting strengthened the hierarchical communion between the Caribbean bishops and the Successor of St. Peter. It also reaffirmed the bishops’ shared commitment to expanding evangelization work across every island and community in the Caribbean region.

Beyond formal diplomatic and administrative meetings, the pilgrimage included extensive spiritual elements. The bishops celebrated Mass at each of Rome’s four historic Major Papal Basilicas, among them the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral of Rome and the official seat of the papacy, and the Basilica of St. Mary Major. At St. Mary Major, the group gathered in prayer at the tomb of the late Pope Francis, while at the tombs of Saints Peter and Paul they participated in a formal ritual to renew their individual and collective vows to apostolic ministry.

The second week of the pilgrimage shifted focus from Vatican engagements to internal formation and AEC business. Ahead of the Annual Plenary Meeting, bishops joined a specialized workshop on synodal leadership facilitated by Fr. David McCallum, SJ, a guided spiritual retreat directed by Sr. Julie Peters, SSM, and an additional group pilgrimage to the Italian town of Assisi, closely associated with St. Francis of Assisi. Following these formative activities, the bishops convened the official business sessions of the AEC’s annual plenary to conclude the trip.

Heather Nanton, a trailblazing Antiguan aviator and aviation industry leader whose career shaped the development of high-quality air travel standards in Antigua and Barbuda, has passed away. Her career emerged alongside Antigua’s early growth as an aviation destination, a period when the local sector was building its identity and learning to meet the unique demands of international travelers drawn to the small Caribbean island nation. During this era of rapid industry development, Nanton stood out for her calm, sophisticated approach to service — a standard she wove into every aspect of her management work. When Antigua and Barbuda began welcoming growing numbers of elite and business travelers, Nanton was among the rare group of local industry professionals who mastered the refined courtesies and formal protocols needed to serve this discerning clientele. Nanton rose to the most senior role at Antigua Airport Services (ASA), where she spent decades overseeing ground operations for British Airways’ largest aircraft, alongside managing operations for a wide range of other airline carriers. Beyond her own day-to-day work, she prioritized passing on the institutional knowledge and service standards she had cultivated to generations of new airport workers. She shared her expertise through industry bodies including the local Airlines Association and the Airport Operators Committee, the groups that designed the iconic high service standards that came to define V.C. Bird International Airport (VCBIA) during its foundational years. A groundbreaking figure for women in the industry, Nanton made history as the first woman to hold a senior ramp operations role at the airport. Throughout her career, she proved that a small island nation could compete with global aviation hubs on service quality, setting an example that successive generations of aviation workers have built upon. Today, current and former Antiguan women working across the aviation industry are honoring Nanton’s legacy and paying tribute to the trail she blazed for women in the field. Her work demonstrated that geographic size and limited national scale are never barriers to achieving exceptional, industry-leading standards, a truth that continues to shape Antigua and Barbuda’s aviation sector decades after she began her career.