ARCHBISHOP Lawrence Burke, SJ, first archbishop of the Bahamas, died in Kingston, Jamaica, at 7 o'clock last night after a long battle with cancer.

Archbishop Burke, 77, died in the retirement home for Catholic priests in the Kingston Archdiocese. He had retired in 2008, four years after being transferred from the Bahamas to take over the archdiocese of his native Kingston.

Archbishop Burke, born in Kingston on October 27, 1932, entered the Society of Jesus on August 14, 1951 at Lenox, Massachusetts and was ordained a priest on June 16, 1964 at Holy Trinity Cathedral, Kingston.

He taught at St. George's College, Jamaica, from 1958 to 1969, when he was named Rector of the College. In 1973 he was appointed Regional Superior of the Jesuits in Jamaica, the first and only Jamaican to be appointed to that post, which he held until 1979. He returned to St George's College in 1980 as Acting Principal.

He was appointed Bishop of Nassau by Pope John Paul II on July 17, 1981 and on June 22, 1999, was named the first Archbishop of the newly erected Archdiocese of Nassau.

It was under Archbishop Burke that the new St Francis Xavier's Cathedral was planned and built.
On February 9, 2004 Archbishop Burke was appointed the fourth Archbishop of Kingston and was installed on May 2, 2004, at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Kingston.

He was given special recognition by his country on Monday, October 19, 2009, when he received National Honours - The Order of Jamaica - for outstanding contribution to Religion and Education.

The funeral of Archbishop Burke will take place on Thursday February 4, 2010.