What I do every day....March 30, 2025

It is very much a suffering for me to have no news of the gunshot kidnapped man I wrote about a few days ago. God knows we did our best to convince the gangs involved to have mercy and release him. I don’t even know if he is dead or alive.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If I were kidnapped and also seriously wounded, I would hope someone would try to work every angle to free me and save me.

The gangs are advancing in their stronghold on the country. The Kenscoff mountains are even more penetrated. Much of downtown Port au Prince including wealthy suburbs are overrun by gangs.

Many nuns and priests have had to evacuate Port au Prince over the past few weeks, to get out of the line of direct shooting and because their missions have been overrun by gangs.

I don’t know about the Archdiocesan parishes, but most Religious Congregations are refugees from the bandits

Most evacuated during pauses between prolonged gunfire.

Others were rescued by the police.

It’s a long list of refugee Religious Congregations.

We have helped directly in some of the cases, and we have even today calls for help from two others

We are trying to do what we can as fast as we can.

What is particularly challenging is that one Congregation has to evacuate 27 elderly, disabled and demented Sisters. They have no place to bring them because they have already abandoned their institutions in Pacot and Sacré Coeur and have no where else to put the sick sisters

They need a lot of help evacuating also because the conditions of the Sisters require ambulances.

Elderly Sisters, worn out from a life of service in Schools and Hospitals, running from bandits with no where to go.

We are trying to see how to receive them in Tabarre temporarily at least. Tomorrow the superior will come to visit and see what we can offer.

Of the abandoned missions some are schools, some are Motherhouses of the Congregation, some are convent schools, some are clinics.

It is an unbelievable reality. Refugees in their own country, a country no one can any longer recognize. It reminds me of the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt. Except that Egypt is right here.