The Portal January 2019 | Page 20
THE
P RTAL
January 2019
Page 20
Aid to the Church in Need
Working for the love of
God – and the love of Haiti
John Newton reports
D espite corruption
and other challenges facing Haiti in the wake of a series of natural disasters,
an archbishop has described how the Church is working to ensure “we continue to grow in love and hope”.
Archbishop Launay Saturné of Cap-Haïtien, president of the Haitian Bishops’ Conference, spoke to Catholic
charity Aid to the Church in Need about the problems facing parishioners in the country. An official statement
from the bishops’ conference described dishonesty in public office as “unacceptable and unsustainable”. The
bishops also “publicly denounced the corruption, because it is a scourge, an evil in society.”
Responding to the challenges facing the
earthquakes which have hit the island,
country, including allegations of corruption
the Archdiocese of Cap-Haïtien is
extending to the highest levels of public
providing 80 hectares (197 acres) of land.
office, Archbishop Saturné said: “What Haiti
Archbishop Saturné said: “Working this
needs is a ‘new man’ who lives a Christian
land can help to reduce unemployment,
life in today’s society”. He added: “As bishops
increase local production and persuade
and pastors we must walk together with the
workers to stay at home and work to
people of God, who have been entrusted to
earn a living.” Helping Haitians rebuild
our fatherly and pastoral care.” Describing the
their homes is another priority. Speaking of
importance of honesty and accountability, the
ACN benefactors’ “loving and generous
archbishop said: “Over and above the
hearts”, he told a visiting delegation
intellectual formation, the family
from the charity: “Thank you…
and the school have to inculcate
Thank you for your donations -
in children and young people the Archbishop Launay Saturné of Cap-Haïtien (©ACN) thank you also for the visit by the
love of God, love of neighbour,
representatives of ACN to Haiti,
love of country, respect for the common good, civic and to my archdiocese, to help us rebuild what was
responsibility and patriotism.”
destroyed by the earthquake of 2010.”
Identifying “evangelisation, education and formation”
as the means to cultivate Christian values on an island
where the vast majority of the 11.5 million inhabitants
regard themselves as Catholics, he said: “The Church
must always remain faithful to her Divine Founder…
[so] that we can continue to grow in love and hope, as
the Gospel tells us to. [W]e must help the people to
become better educated in the social teaching of the
Church, so that they can be more aware of its role and
implication in the responsible management of public
life for the good of all.” Archbishop Saturné added:
“For the Church, education is a most urgent priority,
a result of which is the parish school, in which the
Church can distribute the ‘bread of education’ to the
most disadvantaged children in the remotest areas of
the country, where the State is absent. To tell the truth,
we are making up for many of the deficiencies of the
State, both in this and in many other areas.”
In response to the devastation caused by the
Aid to the Church in Need - www.acnuk.org
contact: [email protected] or call 020 8642 8668
Ecumenical Marian Pilgrimage Trust
Registered Charity no. 1108173
Ecumenical Pilgrimage at Walsingham
Tuesday 19th - Friday 22nd March 2019
CATHOLIC, ANGLICAN, ORTHODOX AND FREE CHURCH
LITURGIES, TALKS AND DEVOTIONS
Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia (Orthodox)
HE Archbishop Edwin Adams (Papal Nuncio tbc)
Bishop Jonathan Goodall of Ebbsfleet (Anglican)
Prof Frances Young (Methodist) Preb Norman Wallwork (Methodist)
Eleanor Jackson (Society of Friends) Fr Peter Farrington (Coptic Orthodox)
Rev Dr Gareth Powell (Methodist) Fr Philip Corbett (Anglican)
Fr Kevin Alban O.Carm (Catholic) Michael Russell (Catholic)
Further details and booking form:
[email protected]
or online at: www.EcumenicalMarianPilgrimage.org.uk