By Michael Swan, From The Catholic Register

TORONTO – If Pope Francis intends to reshape the college of cardinals so it more roughly approximates the Catholic world, he’s made a start by appointing Val Felix’s big brother.

Retired Toronto banker Val Felix is not at all surprised that his brother Kelvin is about to become a cardinal.

“We all know that certain parts of the world, not just there (in the Caribbean) but parts of Africa and Latin America, these are the areas where probably the largest numbers of Catholics on the whole can be found these days — unlike 100 years ago in Europe,” Val Felix told The Catholic Register. “To a certain extent, that has been recognized particularly by Pope Francis.”

Kelvin Felix will become a cardinal Feb. 22 in a Vatican ceremony that will also elevate Quebec Archbishop Gerald Lacroix to cardinal. Felix will be the first cardinal from the English- speaking Caribbean. But an argument can be made that the cardinal-elect is at least a little bit Canadian.

His brother is a member of St. Joseph parish in Scarborough, Ont. On various visits over the years, the cardinal-elect has celebrated Sunday Mass at St. Joseph. In addition, Felix studied at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia as a newly ordained priest.

He went on to complete a Master’s at Notre Dame in Indiana then added graduate studies in anthropology at the University of Bradford in England. In the 1970s he was principal of a Catholic high school and then associate general secretary of the Caribbean Conference of Churches. He became an archbishop in 1981.

The Felix family is from a very Catholic corner of the Caribbean. The island nation of Dominica is roughly three quarters Catholic. Though Kelvin Felix was the only one of four boys and five girls in the family to follow a religious vocation in the Church, it was certainly no surprise when he went off to the seminary in Trinidad at 17 or 18, said Val.

“He’s always been around this issue of faith,” said the younger brother. “Both of us grew up inside the Church, in a sense. We both were altar boys. All the boys were until we left.”

Their father was the commissioner of police and their mother a homemaker who died when Val was eight and Kelvin 10. While the whole family were faithful churchgoers, Val doesn’t think his brother got his calling to the priesthood particularly from their parents.

“There was an inner source of faith, an inner feeling — he’s always had that,” said Val.

Felix spent 30 years as archbishop of Castries based in St. Lucia — long enough that many assumed he was from the island. But since then the retired archbishop has reestablished himself in Dominica, serving country parishes south of the capital Roseau.

Long before his career in saving souls, the future archbishop saved his little brother’s life.

Life on the island meant the boys were always out by the water, but the eight-year-old Val didn’t know how to swim. The 10-yearold Kelvin sprang into action.

“He just saved me. He knew what was happening to me and got there and saved my life. That’s what I remember,” said Val.

He also remembers a stern warning from his father and older brothers to stay away from the water if he couldn’t swim. He learned to swim.

Val will be one of three from the Felix clan attending the consistory Feb. 22 to see their brother become one of 19 new cardinals. At 80 years old, Felix will be ineligible to vote for the next pope but voting is only one of the things a cardinal may be asked to do.

PHOTO: Retired Archbishop Kelvin Edward Felix has been plucked from St. Mark’s Church in Soufrière, Dominica, to become a cardinal in February. His brother Val in Toronto is not surprised. – Photos courtesy Wikimedia

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