Samuel Carter, 83; First Native-Born Catholic Archbishop of Jamaica

Samuel Carter, 83, Jamaica’s first native-born Roman Catholic archbishop, whose outspoken advocacy for the poor won him praise throughout the Caribbean, died Tuesday after a brief illness at a hospital in Kingston.

Carter was ordained head of the Archdiocese of Kingston in 1970, a post he held for nearly 25 years.

He dedicated much of his religious life to the ecumenical movement and to helping the poor, writing many pastoral letters in defense of social justice and in opposition to the death penalty.

Born in Kingston on July 31, 1919, Carter taught Latin and worked as a civil servant for five years before beginning his priesthood studies in 1944.

Carter traveled extensively during his tenure as archbishop, and is widely credited with leading a push to establish indigenous clergy throughout the Caribbean.