Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Port au Prince (Agenzia Fides) - "We urgently need to put order in the administration in Haiti" because, "if the country were well organized in ten years it would be rebuilt": This is what the Archbishop of Port-au-Prince (Haiti), Bishop Guire Poulard observed during a meeting with the leaders of the international voluntary groups. People who are in government, as senators and Congressmen, "are not prepared", he remarked. But Mgr. Poulard is convinced that the country will go ahead because the Haitian people is made up of people "who work and is not afraid of poverty", because they have shown throughout history that they can "emerge strongly in the face of difficulties".
In a note sent to Fides, the Bishop recalls the loss of so many doctors, nurses, agronomists and many other professionals killed in the earthquake, noting the Church's commitment to educating the Christians " who are called to rebuild the country", especially young people and university students.
Mgr. Poulard said that in Haiti there are a thousand religious Catholics, of which 800 priests, committed to providing service throughout the country in education, rebuilding, attention to children, support to families, in health care and they can do all of this "with no distinction between people."
In the note sent to Fides, the Archbishop of Port au Prince observes that after the earthquake on January 12, 2010, the Catholic people of Haiti are living "a tough experience, but very rich", because every day they discover that the Church "are not the buildings, but the people of God, who meet under a tree, in tents or under the sun".
However, he stressed, during the emergency period, perhaps due to lack of coordination between NGOs after the earthquake, it has been difficult to give aid to those who need it most. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 15/10/2011)
