876-967-1526 nlj@nlj.gov.jm

Samuel Carter (1919 - 2002)

His Grace, the Most Revd. Samuel E. Cater was born on July 31, 1919 to Wilfred and Marie Carter. He attended the St. Aloysius Primary School in Kingston under the management of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany. After successfully completing his secondary education he went to St. Simon’s to teach Latin (1939-41). Immediately following St. Simons in 1941 he worked as a Clerk in the Treasury and Finance Department until 1944.

In August 1944 he entered the Jesuit Novitiate at Shadowbrook, Massachusetts and pronounced his First Vows as a Jesuit in 1946. The following year he went to do a Bachelors of Arts Degree and in 1950 his Master’s Degree in Philosophy at Weston College. Having taught Sociology  for one year at Holy Cross College, Worchester, Massachusetts he returned to Weston College in 1951 to pursue studies in Theology and achieved a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL). Samuel Carter did not stop there, In 1954, after he was ordained, he went to St. Bueno’s College, England, to study  Ascetical Theology and in 1958 he attended the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work and obtained the Master’s Degree in Social Work (MSW).

Samuel Carter throughout his career served as:

  • Assistant Priest at Holy Trinity Cathedral
  • He represented the Church on social work programmes such as Save the Children Fund, Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children/Jamaica Children Services
  • Manager of Holly Family School
  • Manager Catholic Women’s League
  • Social Casework Lecturer for Probation Officers
  • Chairman Fort Augusta Prison Visiting Committee (1960-1974)
  • President Jamaica Catholic Educational Association (1960-61)
  • Member of the Executive Committee of the Jamaica Mental Health Association (1960-65)
  • Editor-in-chief Mental Health Conference Report 1962
  • Chairman Ministry of Education Committee on Organization and Structure of Educational Systems (1965-66)
  • Chairman of Holy Trinity Secondary Board (1968)
  • Member of Council – University of the West Indies (1976)

Archbishop Carter was the first:

  • Headmaster of Campion College,
  • Jamaican Rector of St. George’s College,
  • Jamaican Roman Catholic Bishop,
  • Jamaican Archbishop of Kingston,
  • Chairman of the Conference of Churches – he was elected in 1973 at the Inaugural Meeting as the Chairman.

Samuel Carter earned several awards of Honorary Doctor of Laws (L.L.D.) from the:

  • College of Holy Cross (Worchester, Massachusetts) in 1970,
  • Le Moyne College (Syracuse, U.S.A) 1976,
  • Rale Medallion (U.S.A), 1976
  • Loyola University of Chicago, 1979
  • University of the West Indies, 1988
  • Fairfield University, Connecticut U.S.A., 2000

He was also awarded the Bicentennial Award from Boston College School of Social Work  and a Honorary Doctor of Divinity (D.D.) from Bethany College, Bethany, U.S.A in 1996.

Archbishop Carter served on many Commissions and  Conferences either as Chairman or as a member. He was said to have developed a passion to serve mankind from an early age. He worked  relentlessly in the inner city communities to spread the Eucharist of Love.  He retired November 11,1994 and died September 3, 2002.

Archbishop Emeritus Samuel Carter’s motto was “That all may be one”. He undertook many challenges and throughout his career he impacted positively on the development of the mind of many to whom he had come into contact with and those who knew or heard of him.