Haiti – Religion : Position of the Catholic Bishops of Haiti on the current situation
12/18/2022 07:56:56
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The Conference of Catholic Bishops of Haiti (CEH), gathered in Plenary Assembly at the approach of Christmas, in the face of the current situation calls, among other things, for an end to the murderous madness, hatred and contempt for life in his 2022 Christmas message.
Excerpts from the Christmas message of the (CEH):
” […] We ask the illegitimately armed groups and those who finance them to stop the murderous madness of hatred, of contempt for life. So silence the guns! Abandon “the diabolical and perverse logic of weapons…farthest from the will of God!” (Pope Francis). Instead of fratricidal war, we must invest in peace and love, in the reorganization of our infrastructure, health and education systems, as well as the change of our mentalities. It is time to rebuild our institutions, especially Justice, to curb the culture of impunity which is the logical cause of the perpetuation of corruption and violence in the country in order to guarantee, in a spirit of belonging to this land of Haiti, a better future for future generations.
As other sectors of society have already expressed, we believe that it is necessary and urgent to provide effective support to the National Police both in equipment, logistics and combat conditioning as well as in treatment and review of personnel. to help fight the scourge of crime and create a climate conducive to the normalization of life in the country. The establishment of a security climate in the country remains one of the necessary conditions for the resumption of economic, cultural and social activities and the organization of democratic and transparent elections.
The unbearable conditions of the country push a large number of our compatriots to take refuge, in all haste and by all means, in territories where they are not always welcome.
Closer to home, in the neighboring Republic, they are subjected to unspeakable treatment, which tramples on the principles and imperatives of human rights, international humanitarian law, refugee law and, especially, the Protocol of 1999 Agreement on the conditions for processing the return of illegal Haitian migrants. This affects the relations of friendship and good neighborliness between the citizens of the two Republics and creates intergenerational friction. In this sense, We of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Haiti are in talks with the Conference of Dominican Bishops on this migration issue. Also, we invite the authorities of the State to take the appropriate measures to rectify the situation and to improve the conditions of existence and well-being of the Haitian people in order to encourage them to stay at home. We encourage, moreover, a gesture of appeasement capable of releasing tensions in migratory relations between the two countries condemned to share common borders indefinitely and live together. […] »
Signatures of Bishops of the Catholic Church in Haiti
Archbishop Launay SATURNÉ Metropolitan Archbishop of Cap-Haitien (CEH President)
Archbishop Max Leroy MÉSIDOR Metropolitan Archbishop of Port-au-Prince (Vice-President of the CEH)
Mgr Désinord JEAN Bishop of Hinche (Treasurer of the CEH)
Chibly Cardinal LANGLOIS Bishop of Les Cayes (Councillor)
Bishop Pierre André DUMAS Bishop of Anse-à-Veau / Miragoâne
Mgr Joseph Gontrand DÉCOSTE, SJ Bishop of Jérémie
Mgr Yves Marie PÉAN, CSC Bishop of Gonaïves
Bishop Quesnel ALPHONSE, smm Bishop of Fort-Liberté
Bishop Marie Érick Glandas TOUSSAINT Bishop of Jacmel
Bishop Charles Peters BARTHELUS Bishop of Port-de-Paix
HL/ HaitiLibre
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