Haiti Emergency Aid 2021
ACN is preparing to send over an initial 500,000 EUR ($800,000 AUD) for emergency relief.
With almost 2000 people confirmed dead and thousands of others injured and homeless due to the earthquake, ACN is providing aid to those in need during this time. We can confirm that 26 Churches suffered great damages and at least 11 chapels have completely collapsed and need to be rebuilt. One of them is the Cathedral of St. Louis and 11 Churches were already destroyed by hurricane Matthew and not yet rebuilt. At least 32 rectories have suffered serious damages. There are 46 presbyteries in the diocese, also 69.5% of them are destroyed. Also, the bishop’s residence shows serious damages and needs to be restored. Furthermore, 25 parish schools and 11 parish health centres suffered great damages. The antenna of the diocesan radio has also fallen and the solar electrical system has been damaged.
“We have received some heartbreaking accounts. After all the political conflicts the country has suffered since 2019 and barely a month after the assassination of the President of the Republic, Jovenel Moïse, in early July, in the midst of the wave of violence and abductions that are afflicting the country and on top of the news reaching us of droughts and lack of water that have already plunged the rural population in still deeper poverty – on top of all this, the earthquake on Saturday has now inflicted on thousands of families a situation worse than all the rest. It is an impossible situation, and the people are in total shock,” commented the executive president of pontifical foundation ACN International, Dr Thomas Heine-Geldern.
The majority of the country is Catholic and ACN is in contact with the local Church in the most seriously affected dioceses, in order to assess where the greatest need lies in the immediate aftermath. “We are conscious of the great efforts made by the Church to offer signs of hope to the people in their desperate situation, after so many natural disasters and in the midst of the violence and extreme poverty. So at this difficult time, we cannot abandon this Church, which is fighting to support its people. We plea to you to pray for the country, to pray for all those who have lost their loved ones, those who have been wounded and those who have lost everything. May Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Patroness and Protector of Haiti, bring them all support and consolation,” the ACN executive president appealed in conclusion.
To read an update on the situation in Haiti click here.
ACN is asking that you remember our brothers and sisters in Faith in your prayers and to help financially ease their burdens during this very hard time.