 1/13/2010 5:41 PM |
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Devastation in Haiti
The news reports about the earthquake damage in Haiti are saying that thousands of people may have died and damage to buildings is extensive. There are a lot of injuries and many, many people are without shelter. Prayers are definitely needed.
Haitian archbishop killed by devastating earthquake
Port au Prince, Haiti, Jan 13, 2010 / 11:11 am (CNA).- The earthquake that struck Haiti just before 5 p.m. local time has claimed thousands of lives, according to news reports coming from the island. Among the many lives lost in the catastrophe are those of Catholic clergy and missionaries.
The Italian daily La Repubblica reported the death of Archbishiop Serge Miot, Archbishop of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince at 4:44 a.m. (CDT). According to the brief report, his body was found in the rubble of the archbishop's office. They also reported that the Vicar General, Msgr. Benoit, was still missing.
According to the Vatican's Fides news agency, Apostolic Nuncio to Haiti, Archbishop Bernardito Auza was reported as saying:
"Port-au-Prince is totally devastated. The cathedral, the Archbishop's Office, all of the big churches, all of the seminaries have been reduced to rubble. The same luck for the Ministry buildings, the Presidential Palace, the schools. The Parish Priest of the Cathedral, who was spared, told me that the archbishop of Port-au-Prince would have died under the rubble, together with hundreds of seminarians and priests that are under the ruins."
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| 1/14/2010 12:26 AM |
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More on Haiti from the USCCB For Haiti, "Your Help is Urgently Needed"  Hot off the wire comes the following letter to the American bishops on yesterday's earthquake in Haiti from the USCCB president and the bishop-chair of CRS:Your Eminence/Excellency:
Our Church mourns the terrible suffering of our brothers and sisters in Haiti. The 7.0 magnitude earthquake that ravaged Haiti on January 12, 2010 has already claimed thousands of lives including the Archbishop of Port-au-Prince. It has destroyed countless homes, churches, seminaries, schools, and other buildings and has left millions without the most basic necessities of life. Our faith compels us to pray for and reach out to our brothers and sisters in their time of suffering.
We invite you to encourage your pastors to take up a second collection for the people and Church of Haiti this weekend, January 16 and 17, 2010. These funds will be used to support the efforts of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic Relief Services, the official international humanitarian agency of the U.S. Catholic Church, as they respond to immediate emergency needs for such necessities as water, food, shelter and medical care, as well as to the long term need to rebuild after widespread destruction, and to the pastoral and reconstruction needs of the Church in Haiti.
Catholic Relief Services is already mounting a major emergency response to this severe disaster and has committed an initial $5 million to fund relief efforts which are likely to go on for some time. Your help and the help of the Catholic people of the United States are urgently needed.
Next weekend January 23-24, many dioceses are scheduled to take up the Collection for the Church in Latin America. This Collection is vitally important for our ability to respond to the pastoral needs of the Church in Haiti and other parts of Latin America in the weeks and months ahead. We urge that you use both of these opportunities to express our solidarity and our loving support for our brothers and sisters in Haiti
and ask you not to substitute one collection for the other.
Additional information on the U.S. Catholic community’s response to this emergency and how U.S. Catholics can help can be found at CRS.org and USCCB.org
Cardinal Francis George, O.M.I.
Archbishop of Chicago
President
Most Reverend Timothy M. Dolan
Chairman
Catholic Relief Services Still in Rome -- where, over the weekend, he helped lead ceremonies for the 150th anniversary of the Pontifical North American College -- Dolan met earlier today with both the Curia's humanitarian chief, the Cor Unum president Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes, and the Haitian ambassador to the Holy See, offering "whatever financial assistance" the Gotham church can provide.
PHOTO: Reuters-30- |
| 1/14/2010 7:53 PM |
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Thank you for this report, PapaB. The situation in Haiti is horrendous, made worse by the fact that the aid is taking so long to be deployed and co-ordinated, though a great deal has already arrived.
In Britain one can donate by going to www.dec.org.uk |
| 1/17/2010 5:09 AM |
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ALL EYES ON HAITI
Interview With Cardinal Cordes of Cor Unum
VATICAN CITY, JAN. 16, 2010 (Zenit.org).- As disaster strikes Haiti, the eyes of the world are being directed toward the poorest country of the Western world, whose long suffering has long been forgotten, says Cardinal Josef Cordes.
The president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum spoke with ZENIT about the aftermath of the 7.0-magnitude quake that hit the country Tuesday, and destroyed its capital of Port-au-Prince.
In this interview the cardinal discusses the damage done to the country, as well as what will be needed to help Haiti in the days, months and years ahead.
ZENIT: What do you know about the damage of the earthquake?
Cardinal Cordes: Initial communication was difficult, but we are beginning to receive reports from Catholic agencies working directly on the scene, such as Catholic Relief Services (the international relief and development agency of the U.S. bishops), national Caritas representatives being sent to Haiti by their bishops, Cross International Catholic Outreach, St. Vincent de Paul Confederation.
Certain facts are known through the media (loss of life, homes, etc). More specifically for us, it was the apostolic nuncio in Santo Domingo who had the first contact via e-mail with Archbishop Bernardito Auza, apostolic nuncio in Haiti. Archbishop Auza is informing us about the losses to the Church, both in terms of life and structural damage. The archbishop of Port-au-Prince, Joseph Serge-Miot, whom he described as "good" and "always smiling," was killed as he was thrown from his balcony by the force of the earthquake. Other priests, religious and at least nine seminarians have been buried under the rubble. The cathedral, chancery, and all of the parish churches have been destroyed. Archbishop Auza is visiting Catholic and other establishments, many of them ruined, to express the closeness of the Church and Holy Father.
ZENIT: What is the immediate need?
Cardinal Cordes: Every natural catastrophe is unique, but our long experience of previous disasters (e.g. Tsunami, Katrina) shows two distinct phases:
-- Short-term: manpower is needed to save lives, provide the basic necessities (water, food, shelter, prevention of disease), restore order;
-- Long-term: reconstruction, offering spiritual and psychological help, especially when media attention fades away.
Benedict XVI has called on all people of good will to be generous and concrete in their response in order to meet the immediate needs of our suffering brothers and sisters in Haiti (General Audience, Jan. 13, 2010). It is important that we are giving tangible help through the charitable agencies of the Catholic Church. Much is being organized and encouraged in this regard throughout the world.
For example, the episcopal conference of Italy has set Jan. 24 as a day of prayer and charity for the people of Haiti. The national embassies to the Holy See are organizing the sacrifice of the Holy Mass to be offered for our suffering brothers and sisters. We must remember to intercede through prayer and not only money for the suffering of Haiti.
ZENIT: What is being done concretely by the Holy See/Pontifical Council Cor Unum?
Cardinal Cordes: In his appeal for assistance, Benedict XVI asked specifically that the Catholic Church mobilize herself at once through her charitable institutions. Several Catholic organizations have already begun working, offering especially personnel with expertise at this stage (e.g. the national Caritas of Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, France, Austria, the Order of Malta). Cross International Catholic Outreach is at work through its office in Port-au-Prince. We are receiving daily updates from them all.
Whenever a situation like this arises, it is the custom for one agency to coordinate relief efforts. To this end, in the hours following the earthquake, our Pontifical Council was in direct contact with Catholic Relief Services. We asked that it coordinate the response at this stage in view of the 300 plus staff it has in Haiti, its long history of over 50 years in the country, as well as its expertise in dealing with similar disasters worldwide and its resources. The President of CRS has assured us: "We stand committed and ready to inform and coordinate the response of the Church in whatever way possible so that her response may be an effective sign of God's love."
We know from the apostolic nuncio in Haiti that meetings are taking place with CRS and Caritas Haiti at the Nunciature in Port-au-Prince in order that the urgent local needs are addressed. It is essential that the local Church be heard. To this end, we are pleased that those Haitian bishops, who have been able to travel, have been present at these meetings.
ZENIT: How much does people's faith help them through a catastrophe such as this?
Cardinal Cordes: The faith of the people who have suffered in this disaster will play a critical role in not only bringing relief to their physical injuries and losses, but also in addressing the spiritual dimension and meaning to be found in such a catastrophe. In visiting disaster areas before and talking with survivors, many express their gratitude to God for sparing their lives and for the generous outpouring of assistance made available to them by family, friends, neighbors, and Churches worldwide. Because of the large Catholic population (80% of Haitians are Catholics), faith and the concrete presence/witness of the Church will have a very important role in the present tragedy.
Our Pontifical Council Cor Unum had already planned that the next meeting of the Populorum Progressio Foundation would take place in Santo Domingo this coming July. The foundation, established by Pope John Paul II, is to help the indigenous peoples of the Latin American and Caribbean countries. In the past, we have given much help to Haiti and we shall continue to do so. Of course, our spiritual closeness is of primary importance. We shall be certain to celebrate the Holy Eucharist on that occasion with bishops coming from different countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Without faith, this tragedy would turn into a complete disaster. That is why it will be essential for our brothers and sisters to pray together; experience Christians worldwide sharing their burdens as members of God's family; know the compassion of our Holy Father. All these become sources of hope and energy. In His first encyclical, "Deus Caritas Est," Pope Benedict invites us to recall "St. Augustine who gives us faith's answer to our sufferings: 'Si comprehendis, non est Deus' -- 'if you understand him, he is not God.'" The Holy Father adds: "Even in their bewilderment and failure to understand the world around them, Christians continue to believe in the 'goodness and loving kindness of God' (Titus 3:4)" (No. 38).
ZENIT: Will good come from this tragedy?
Cardinal Cordes: This is a disaster that has caused immense loss of life and suffering. Many years will be needed for the nation to be rebuilt physically and the people to recover in their spirits. For this reason, the Church must remain present even as others move away.
But already we see good rising from the ruins. The eyes of the world are being open to the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, whose long suffering was all but forgotten. This tragedy shows that we depend on each other and must care for our suffering brothers and sisters, just as we did during the Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. So we must ensure that the necessary assistance now being shown to Haiti continues in the long-term, for example through setting up better local Caritas structures and links with government development ministries of wealthier countries and help agencies.
We are witnessing and hearing of many selfless and heroic acts made to save lives and to rescue those in danger. There are still thousands of others, who, coming from all over the world and without any accolades, are dedicating themselves to helping whoever is in need. People are being moved to give of themselves spiritually and materially to help the poor and suffering. In the coming days and weeks, I am convinced that we shall encounter in the midst of this catastrophe many examples of goodness.
Above all, it is with trustworthy hope in the Crucified and Risen Lord Jesus that Christians face the present. In his encyclical "Spe Salvi," Pope Benedict speaks of the sufferings of this moment being borne through hope in the future. It is not that Christians know the details of what awaits them, but they know in general terms that their life will not end in emptiness: "Only when the future is certain as a positive reality does it become possible to live the present as well" (Spe Salvi No. 2).
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| 1/22/2010 12:19 AM |
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Archbishop Dolan to Haiti Haiti-Bound  Late this afternoon, the New York chancery made the following announcement: Archbishop Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York and Chairman of the Board of Catholic Relief Services, will attend the funeral Mass for Archbishop Joseph Serge Miot, Archbishop of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, who was killed in last week’s catastrophic earthquake. The funeral will be held on Saturday, January 23, 2010 in the plaza in front of the demolished Cathedral.
Because he is the Chairman of CRS, the Archbishop was asked to attend the funeral by the Papal Ambassador to Haiti, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, and the surviving bishops of Haiti. While in Haiti, the Archbishop will also take the opportunity to offer support to CRS workers already working in Haiti and assess the progress of relief efforts being undertaken by CRS so as to help determine how the Church in the United States can best respond. He is scheduled to return to New York sometime late in the evening of Sunday, January 24.
Catholic Relief Services has over 300 employees working in Haiti year-round, many of whom lost loved ones in the earthquake. Additional staff and support have been assigned to Haiti in light of the tremendous need that exists at this time. CRS has been present and working with the people of Haiti since 1954.
Archbishop Dolan will be travelling to Haiti via private jet, which is being donated by a generous benefactor. Accompanying him will be Ken Hackett, President of CRS, and Monsignor David Malloy, General Secretary of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. CRS is the official over-seas aid agency of the USCCB. They will also be bringing some supplies with them on their visit.
Having compared the quake-ravaged country to "the broken, bloodied body of Jesus" in the immediate aftermath of last week's first tremor, Dolan's shown above following the first of two Masses he's celebrated this week for Gotham's Haitian community -- with 400,000 members, the diaspora's largest hub. PHOTO: AP-30- |
| 1/22/2010 12:57 AM |
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Horror in Haiti ‘His phone died, we don't know if he is alive’by SIMON ROUGHNEEN, REGISTER CORRESPONDENT 01/21/2010 PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti—Four days after the Jan. 12 earthquake that destroyed much of Haiti’s capital, surprising news made its way to Jean-Claude Jérémie, making him jump from his spot at a camp close to the port. Like hundreds of thousands of his compatriots, he now sleeps outdoors, his home destroyed. It was news of a phone call. “The call was from Father Benoit, he was missing since the earthquake, everyone thought he was dead”. “So where was he calling from?” I asked. “He said ‘I am under the concrete, buried here.” Apparently he was unable to reach his hand phone until loosening an arm. The call was made to another parishioner, a friend of Jean-Claude’s. Among the estimated 200,000 killed during the 7.0 quake was Archbishop Joseph Serge Miot, leading some newspaper reports to suggest an apocalypse for the Church in Haiti, where Catholicism and Christianity sit in an uneasy relationship with voodoo, which is practiced by some Haitians. Some stories insinuate that apparently superstitious Haitians will desert Catholicism in droves, due to the destruction wrought on the once-magnificent Notre Dame Cathedral and the loss of so many religious and devout laypeople. Built in the distinctively French style and painted pink and cream, it rose above the downtown Port-au-Prince, now a sea of rubble and pancaked multistory buildings. “I try to be a very strong Catholic,” said a woman named Joissant,. She runs a small street stall downhill from the shattered cathedral, close to a Catholic school. The earthquake took place in the evening, meaning that the children were not inside the half-collapsed school building. “I looked up at the church”, she said. “The top (the 100-feet steeple) was swinging round and round, and ground was going updownupdownupdown. The tower fell, through the roof and down onto the floor.”
The cathedral itself now looks like it was shelled. The walls still stand, but the roof collapsed, filling the apse and nave with rubble, and burying unknown numbers of clergy and laypeople. “There was a choir singing in there when it happened”, said Joissant, pointing to an annex at the front of the building. Behind the cathedral, the archbishop’s residence is damaged, though not heavily. Next door to that, the Catholic Radio Soleil is destroyed, with many journalists and staff having been killed inside. The station was right behind the towering cathedral, and was crushed. German and Dominican Republic rescue workers continue to sift through the rubble, mostly removing dead bodies, but also looking for survivors. Eight days after the disaster, two children were pulled from the wreckage of collapsed buildings elsewhere in the city. Traveling around the city, however, one sees huge rubble heaps everywhere, many untouched since the disaster. On Tuesday, one week after the earthquake, on the hills overlooking the city, an Israeli team worked to find survivors at a four-story high school. Heavy concrete floors had pulverized the light bricks and apparently sparse steelwork beneath. The focus is moving from rescue to delivering aid, and this has run into problems as well. The U.S. military controls the international airport, a tiny building with only one runway and capacity to station no more than six cargo aircraft at any one time. The seaport is damaged, and the streets are clogged with rubble and debris. Roaming gangs of armed men and escaped prisoners add to the dangers for distressed, bereaved survivors, and for the aid groups trying to get help to them. But some rescue work will continue, as people can often survive for days if caught in gaps between large slabs of masonry, with access to water, and even food. “So did you find Father Benoit?” I asked. Jérémie answered, “No, he is still in there” ¬ pointing at the remains of the cathedral. “Is he still alive?” “We do not know. His phone battery must have died; we cannot get through to him. We have not heard anything from him in four days.” Simon Roughneen filed this story from Port-au-Prince. [Edited by PapaB83 1/22/2010 12:58 AM] |
| 2/27/2010 10:46 PM |
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Earlier today (Saturday February 27) an 8.8 earthquake hit the nation of Chile. There are now tsunmi all across the Pacific. Please keep the people of Hawaii (our own PapaB83), California, Alaska... Austalia seems to be out of danger, but also keep them in your prayers too. |
| 2/27/2010 11:50 PM |
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Thanks for these prayer requests, Nan.
I came home about an hour ago and have seen breaking news on BBC scrolling: a tsunami triggered by the Chile earthquake has swept ashore in Hawaii.
Are you all right, PapaB? Please check in here as soon as possible to let us know. |
| 3/15/2010 11:18 PM |
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+ Dominus conservet eum, et vivificet eum, et beatum faciat eum in terra, et non tradat eum in animam inimicorum eius. + + May the Lord preserve him and give him life and make him blessed upon the earth, and not deliver him up to the will of his enemies.
Prayer for our Holy Father on the blog of the Transalpine Redemptorists, for which I thank them.[Edited by maryjos 3/15/2010 11:18 PM] |
| 3/27/2010 11:54 PM |
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WE NEED TO PRAY THIS AGAIN
at this moment I can only say:
pray for me,
that I may learn to love the Lord more and more.
Pray for me, that I may learn to love his flock more and more
– in other words, you, the holy Church,
each one of you and all of you together.
Pray for me,
that I may not flee for fear of the wolves.
Let us pray for one another,
that the Lord will carry us
and that we will learn to carry one another.
From Papa's Installation Mass, April 24th 2005 and now taken from the blog of The Transalpine Redemptorists - to whom, thanks. |
| 3/31/2010 5:21 PM |
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From to day's readings
My face I did not shield
from buffets and spitting.
The Lord GOD is my help,
therefore I am not disgraced;
I have set my face like flint,
knowing that I shall not be put to shame.
He is near who upholds my right;
if anyone wishes to oppose me,
let us appear together.
Who disputes my right?
Let him confront me.
See, the Lord GOD is my help;
who will prove me wrong?
The holy father is living all this these days. Let's pray for him...
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| 4/1/2010 1:42 AM |
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May the Lord preserve our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI. Give him life, and make him blessed upon earth, and deliver him not to the will of his enemies.
LET US PRAY:
O God, the Shepherd and Ruler of all the faithful, in Thy mercy look down upon Thy servant, Pope Benedict XVI whom Thou hast appointed to preside over Thy Church, and grant we beseech Thee that both by word and example he may edify those who are under his charge; so that with the flock entrusted to him, he may attain life everlasting. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
And prayers for those who are experiencing spiritual dryness.  
"To believe in the brotherhood of man without the Fatherhood of God would make men a race of bastards." -Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen |
| 4/2/2010 9:20 AM |
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Bood: Thank you for these prayers for our wonderful man. I love your new banners. It is so refreshing to have you back.
Flo: What a reading! It was the one we had on Wednesday at the GA. There was hardly a dry eye in the Piazza when it was read in English.
Please pray for my legs. That is no joke. Be good, everyone, and I shall catch up with you next week. |
| 4/8/2010 2:02 AM |
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The struggle has ended
Just before last Christmas, I requested prayers for my aunt Manya who had struggled for about 8 years with cancer and who was finally succumbing more to the effects of the chemo than to the multiple tumors in her small body. I mentioned that Manya has never been a very trusting person and, although she usually went to church weekly during her battle with cancer, she never was a serious believer. I really hoped she could find some measure of peace through faith.
Since I wrote my request on this thread, she has been in and out of the hospital more times than I can remember and, when not in the hospital, had to stay in a nursing home because she needed more care than could be provided in my sister's home, where she had been living for the last year and a half.
This morning, the struggle ended. She died around 5 a.m. in the hospital, after nearly a week of terrible anxiety and episodes of panic, which required constant sedation. In the end, she died a quiet death.
I would like to thank any of you who prayed for Manya. I hope our prayers succeeded in lifting her thoughts to God so that now He will lift her soul to be with Him in peace and joy forever.
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| 4/8/2010 6:39 AM |
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So very sorry to hear about your aunt's death Benefan. She and your family remain in my prayers. |
| 4/8/2010 4:02 PM |
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I join in prayer.[Edited by GABRIELLA.JOSEPHINE 4/8/2010 4:03 PM] JOSEPHINE
"OMNIA POSSUNT IN EO QUI ME CONFORTAT"
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| 4/26/2010 11:30 PM |
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Urgent prayers needed, please
On Friday Hutch was "swiped round the head" by a male carer at the home. The girl carer, who was working with him, reported him. He was suspended and sent off the premises at once. The police are involved and were going to prosecute, but the girl refused to give a statement - afraid, you see. I'm angry, because it's now likely to be swept under the carpet, whereas I feel the home is at least partly to blame for employing someone who was clearly unsuitable.
The inquiry continues. I'll be over there tomorrow finding out what the latest is. I couldn't write anything before today, because it was likely to become a court case. Now that is not going to happen.
Hutch is a vulnerable, elderly person - and my husband. I'm sure you all understand how I'm hurting at the moment.
Love, Mary xxxx |
| 4/27/2010 1:48 AM |
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"Carer"?
One has to wonder at the word when the person doing that job is slapping around one of the frail, elderly, helpless persons he is supposed to be taking care of. They call carers "aides" here and hurting an old person is elder abuse. The incidence of such abuse is growing frighteningly.
I'm very sorry to hear about Hutch, Mary. I do pray for both of you each day. I hope that the administrators of the nursing home will take action and get rid of that creep who hurt Hutch and re-educate the rest of their staff against behaving in such a rough and uncaring manner with their patients.
It's so often the most vulnerable in our society who are being victimized these days.
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| 4/27/2010 6:01 PM |
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Dear Mary
That is very sad. I'll pray for you two
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| 4/27/2010 8:18 PM |
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Mary! This is so horrible!! So sorry to hear about it!!
All the best for the two of you!! You'll be in my prayers, as well!!
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