Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Port of Spain (Agenzia Fides) - The Archbishops and Bishops of the Caribbean islands have expressed "pain and concern" for the social conflict in the Dominican Republic against Haitian immigrants, following the judgment of the local Constitutional Court on the right to citizenship, which provides for the revocation of Dominican citizenship to children of undocumented Haitian immigrants, followed by a "National Plan" of the adaptation of foreign residents in the Dominican Republic initiated by the government (see Fides 25/10/2013, 02/12/2013).
Gathered in the Archdiocese of Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, "because of the historic visit to the region of Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples", is written in the statement sent to Fides Agency, the members of the Episcopal Conference of the Antilles have taken a position on this delicate situation through a message sent to the Archbishop of Santo Domingo, Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez.
In the letter, the Bishops express their concerns and bring those expressed by some Dominican Bishops on the situation of thousands of Haitian migrants and their descendants. They recall that Jesus, the Son of God, was a refugee, and therefore invite the Catholic Dominican Church to do everything possible to safeguard the rights and dignity of Haitians and their descendants in this country.
According to information received, the Bishops recall that many Haitians have been living in Santo Domingo for 30 to 40 years, with their families, while others have been here for two generations, children and grandchildren, who were born on Dominican land, and therefore have been living in this country for such a long time that they know nothing about Haiti, "and are, therefore, Dominicans".
The tense situation between Haiti and the Dominican Republican involves the population of the entire region of the Antilles and the Caribbean. The Catholic Church in these territories is divided into five ecclesiastical provinces, including 5 archdioceses, 14 dioceses and two independent missions. Politically, there are 13 independent countries (Belize, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda, St Lucia, Grenada, Dominica, Guyana, Suriname, The Bahamas, St. Kitts-Nevis ), 3 Departments of France (Guadeloupe, French Guyana, Martinique), 2 of the UK and the Netherlands that have a complete internal autonomy (Curacao and Aruba), and 6 British colonies (Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Montserrat and Turks Islands and Caicos). (CE) (Agenzia Fides 06/12/2013)
