It raised some eyebrows in and around the Catholic Faith last week when it was announced that auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Belize Christopher Glancy had resigned.

No reason was given but this Catholic news site called it "puzzling" - noting that Glancy "is 63 years old, more than decade away from his 75th birthday, when bishops are expected to submit their resignations to the pope."

So why did he resign - especially when Belize is currently without a bishop?

Well, the truth is Glancy had left Belize from 2017 - shortly after he dropped this bomb on the 2016 September celebrations:

posted (September 22, 2016)
Christopher Glancy, Bishop Roman Catholic Diocese
"For 35 years the people of Belize have elected numerous governments to act on our behalf and rule the nation."

"Sometimes God of justice we have used our sovereign power to steal from the poor and the powerless. Those in power have fixed the scales and use the system to personal advantage, ultimately cheating the nation of its limited resources for the gain of a few."

Scathing words and not appreciated by then Prime Minister Dean Barrow. He raised it with Glancy's boss, the the Papal Nuncio to Belize and El Salvador, Archbishop Leon Kalenga when he visited three weeks later:

posted (October 5, 2016)
Reporter
"Is there anything specific on your agenda with the Prime Minister today, that you will be discussing?"

Archbishop Leon Kalenga
Apostolic Nuncio of Belize & El Salvador
"I am going to greet him, and to let him know that I am in the country, which is good that the authority knows that the Nuncio is around. And I will be listening to him. He's the one briefing me, I am in the country to let the Bishop know, and the people, that I am back."

Barrow told us that at the meeting in the Prime Minister's office, the Nuncio made clear to both Bishops Wright and Glancy that quarrelling with the government of the day was not a function of their office.

Shortly after that, in 2017 Glancy left the country - after the ordination of Bishop Lawrence Nicascio. So now, his resignation in 2024 comes as more of a formality than a surprise.

Bishop Nicascio died on January first of this year. Fr. Jordan Gongora now serves as administrator of the Diocese of Belize City-Belmopan, governing the diocese until the appointment of a new bishop.