The current situation in Haiti is characterized by an unprecedented humanitarian, political, and security crisis, where armed gangs control vast areas, especially in Port-au-Prince, causing widespread violence, murders, kidnappings, and mass displacement. The state is in collapse, with basic services such as health and education severely affected, the economy in ruins, and a large portion of the population living below the poverty line. In this harsh reality, Redemptorist missionaries work among a people who suffer greatly, but who live in the hope of the Redeemer.
We share a writing by Redemptorist missionary Father Renold Antoine CSsR, who has always worked in these lands that have suffered greatly.
THE WAVE OF VIOLENCE THAT SHAKES THE HAITIAN CAPITAL PROMPTS A NEW PASTORAL RESPONSE.
The 1983 Code of Canon Law in paragraphs 515 § 1 defines a parish as follows: “The parish is a specific community of the faithful established in a stable manner within the particular Church, whose pastoral care, under the authority of the diocesan Bishop, is entrusted to a parish priest as its own shepherd.” And throughout its long history, this is what has been experienced in the Catholic Church.
However, due to the recent wave of violence in Port-au-Prince, direct attacks and vandalism have been reported in some parishes in the capital and other areas outside of it. In other circumstances, despite the seriousness of the situation, many members of the diocesan clergy and religious have decided to remain among the population to continue supporting parishioners and those most in need.
It should also be noted that there are still some parishes that have not been attacked and are still located in areas more or less controlled by the national government where parishioners can congregate. These parishes serve as places of spiritual refuge where both parishioners and displaced priests seek and offer spiritual support. Within this category of displaced parishes, we can mention, for example: Saint Anne in Morne à Tuff, Saint Alexander in Place Carl Brouard, Immaculate Conception in L’Hôpital Général, Sacred Heart in Turgeau, and Saint Gerard in Carrefour-Feuilles.
Saint Ignatius of Antioch wrote this well-known phrase in his time: “Wherever the Bishop appears, there will the multitude [the people] be also; just as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.” (Cf. Epistle to the Smyrnaeans Chapter 8. Written at the beginning of the 2nd century AD). Today, with this reality experienced in the Haitian capital and its surroundings, we can say: “Wherever the people of God appear; just as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.” Based on this, the priests of the displaced parishes do everything possible to accompany their parishioners, not only in the administration of the Sacraments, but also by supporting the displaced in every way possible in different areas (food and sanitary kits, tents, medical care, etc.)
This is the case of the Saint Gerard Parish, which, due to this wave of violence that shook the Carrefour-Feuilles neighborhood, is currently taking refuge in the Saint Padre Pio Chapel in Delmas, which belongs to the Our Lady of Altagracia Parish. There, parishioners scattered throughout the metropolitan area gather for Sunday Mass. Baptisms are celebrated every second and fourth Saturday at the Saint Clement Chapel in Canapé Vert, which belongs to the Redemptorist Seminary. For funerals, the parish clergy travel to the parish chosen by the deceased’s relatives to celebrate them. This highlights the dynamism of this new pastoral response.
The theme of an outgoing Church, developed by Pope Francis in his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, is truly lived in Haiti. In this difficult reality, we see a committed Church, an outgoing Church that is decentralized because it focuses on Christ, on his Gospel, and on the human person in need. This is the figure of the missionary disciple of which Pope Francis speaks, since we experience a Church that is bruised, wounded, and soiled by going out into the streets, and not subject to rigid structures. (Cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 20-33).
As Saint Paul tells us in his First Letter to the Corinthians: ” If one member suffers, all suffer together with it ” (cf. 1 Cor 12:26). This means that this painful reality experienced in this particular Church must be the pain of the entire body of the Universal Church. We hope that this wave of solidarity experienced among parishes in areas affected by violence and those not affected by violence will spread beyond our national territory. As we understand it as missionaries who live and work in this reality, a united response from the entire Church is required, since if one member of the Church suffers, all must suffer with them.
Fr. Renold ANTOINE, C.Ss.R.
