HAITI: Archbishop's tears for earthquake dead
By John Newton
Archbishop Louis Kebreau of Cap-Haitien in Haiti, president of Haiti’s Bishops’ Conference
The leader of Catholics in Haiti has described how he is repeatedly reduced to tears when he recalls the day he had to bury seminarians who died in the earthquake which sturck the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, on Tuesday, 12th January.
Speaking of the enormous burden of leading a largely Catholic country through the aftermath of the earthquake, Archbishop Louis Kébreau, president of Haiti’s Bishops’ Conference, underlined his overriding concern for the country’s seminarians, 200 of whom survived the quake and are now in severe need of help.
In an interview with Aid to the Church in Need, Archbishop Kébreau of Cap-Haitien, said: “I cannot hold back the tears when thinking about their burial. We could not even provide them with a coffin, only a pathetic plastic bag.”
Archbishop Kébreau added: “I feel completely helpless in this situation.”
It is now confirmed that in Port-au-Prince, 16 diocesan seminarians died when they were crushed by falling debris.
A further 10, belonging to the Monfortian order, perished when the earthquake destroyed their seminary bus.
The seminarians, most of whom were less than 25 years of age, were buried in the grounds of the devastated major seminary.
In his interview, Archbishop Kébreau lamented that he was unable to bury all of the 16 diocesan seminarians because a number of the bodies had yet to be recovered.
More than two weeks since the quake, the bishops are increasingly concerned that they may never find all the bodies.
Earlier this month, Archbishop Kébreau thanked Aid to the Church in Need for its help after the quake. Within a week of the disaster, the charity despatched £105,000 in emergency aid, including support for the seminarians, who have lost their formation centre.
He said: “I am deeply grateful because Aid to the Church in Need always comes to help, like the Good Samaritan, bringing shelter and giving hope.”
Archbishop Kébreau went on to say that as president of the Bishops’ Conference and a diocesan bishop, he felt responsible for the seminarians’ physical health and spiritual well-being.
He said: “It shakes me to the core when I think about how I had to give the go ahead to the amputation of a leg of a seminarian and the arm of another.”
He added: “It is necessary for the reconstruction of the whole country that these seminarians overcome their trauma and receive good theological formation.”
Archbishop Kébreau told Aid to the Church in Need he wanted to focus on caring for the surviving seminarians so that they in turn could help other disaster victims.
He said: “A lot of people have lost relatives, some are now completely alone and all of them are in complete misery.”
All around the world there has been an outpouring of aid for the people of Haiti – including the bishops from the neighbouring Dominican Republic, who recently visited Port-au-Prince to show their solidarity and give $100,000 (£63,000) for the relief efforts.
Archbishop Kébreau travelled the 125 miles from his diocese in the north of the country to Port-au-Prince to meet them.
However the journey took 12 hours after his own vehicle broke down half way through the journey, following many years of heavy use. He had to borrow another car to complete his journey.
Asked by Aid to the Church in Need if he needed any help himself, the archbishop replied: “I do not need anything for myself, only that God grant me the necessary strength so that together with the other bishops we can rebuild the Church.”
He added that the crisis in Haiti reminded him of the words of the prophet Jeremiah from the Bible: “Judah mourns and her gates languish; her people lament on the ground, and the cry of Jerusalem goes up.” (Jeremiah 14:2)
Aid to the Church in Need is continuing to ask supporters to pray for the people of Haiti. It comes as project coordinators from the charity prepare to visit Haiti to establish medium and long-term priorities for the Church.