From Haiti to a little border town in Texas, the desperation of families from the most impoverished nation in the Western Hemisphere intensifies.
In the Archdiocese of Baltimore, frustration mounts among churches physically shut off from sister parishes on the western half of the island of Hispaniola, where misery is compounded by gang violence, the COVID-19 pandemic, the assasination of President Jovenel Moïse, an earthquake, tropical storms and immigration roadblocks.
Through the Baltimore Haiti Project, which was founded in 2001, the archdiocese built a large presence in the Diocese of Gonaïves, to the north of the capital city of Port-au-Prince. It was founded and led by Deacon Rodrigue Mortel, who escaped the abject poverty of St. Marc, his hometown, and returned to build several schools.
With Deacon Mortel retired from the archdiocesan Missions Office, his family foundation remains a clearinghouse cutting through logistical challenges of getting relief directly to sister parishes.
“When a new pastor comes on board (in Haiti), there can be trouble opening lines of communication,” said Rachel Bowles, director of operations for the Mortel High Hopes for Haiti Foundation. “We also help parishes with some basic questions, such as the costs of goods and services.”
A new pastor for its sister parish – then split into two parishes – compounded matters for St. John the Evangelist, Long Green Valley, in Hydes, which has had one of the archdiocese’s more enduring presences in Haiti.
That effort includes Dr. James Taneyhill, a dentist who has been on countless missions to The Good Samaritans School in St. Marc, where he led a team that built, in his opinion, “the best dental clinic on the island.” Taneyhill last visited Haiti, however, in August 2019.
“Gangs control road access and commit random kidnappings,” Taneyhill told the Review. “Neither our dental group or our parish committee have any intention to travel to Haiti in the immediate future due to the threat of violence and not just the risk, but … the probability of being kidnapped.”
From Anne Arundel to Washington counties, parishes confront similar dilemmas, and settle for a visit from the pastor of their sister parish, rather than sending a delegation there themselves.
In simpler times, more than 100 high-schoolers, many from Archbishop Spalding High School but with Calvert Hall College High School, Maryvale Preparatory School and Notre Dame Preparatory School also represented, served on summer missions to The Good Samaritans School and other institutions near St. Marc. Those opportunities have also been shelved.
Since a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the western port city of Les Cayes Aug. 14, Archbishop William E. Lori has encouraged parishioners to donate directly to Catholic Relief Services.
Relief efforts from CRS and Georgia-based 410 Bridge benefited from the generosity of Church of the Nativity in Timonium, where Father Michael White is the pastor. His Twitter feed noted Aug. 23 that “this weekend, we tithed our offertory collection for relief efforts in Haiti. The tithe, together with designated gifts from parishioners, topped $35,000.”
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ National Migration Week concluded Sept. 26, to coincide with World Day for Migrants and Refugees. The week began with images from Del Rio, Texas, along the Rio Grande, where border patrol agents on horseback turned refugees away from an encampment that, according to the Associated Press, neared 15,000 Sept. 18.
Some fled Haiti after the 2010 earthquake which devastated Port-au-Prince. According to Catholic News Service, Haitians were among a 400-person caravan of migrants and asylum-seekers who set out from a Mexican town near the Guatemala border to head north in late August.
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