Vatican City, 9 January 2015 (VIS) –
“The communion of the Church: memory and hope for Haiti five years
after the earthquake” is the title of the conference beginning this
morning in the Vatican. The event was organised by the Pontifical
Council “Cor Unum” and the Pontifical Commission for Latin
America in collaboration with the bishops of Haiti, and is a response
to the Holy Father's wish to maintain close attention to a country
that continues to suffer the consequences of the earthquake, and to
reiterate the Church's closeness to the Haitian people during the
reconstruction phase. It will above all offer the opportunity to
present the balance of aid destined for the country and to analyse
the results of the implementation of the projects carried out from
2010 to the present day.
In January 2010 the island of Haiti was
afflicted by an earthquake, the epicentre of which was located near
the capital, Port-au-Prince, causing the death of 230 thousand people
and devastated the territory, destroying much of the infrastructure,
thousands of homes, and all the hospitals on the island. According to
Red Cross estimates, the disaster affected three million people.
The meeting is attended by
representatives of the Holy See, the local Haitian church, and
various episcopal conferences, workers from Catholic charitable
organisations, religious congregations and various Holy
See-accredited diplomatic representatives. The conference will begin
at 9 a.m. in the St. Pius X building with greetings from Cardinal
Marc Ouellet, P.S.S., president of the Pontifical Commission for
Latin America, and a report from Cardinal Robert Sarah who, as
president of “Cor Unum” until the end of 2014, managed the Holy
Father's donations to the local Church of the island. During the
morning session, there will be a debate on the material and spiritual
reconstruction process and there will be interventions by Cardinal
Chibly Langlois, bishop of Les Cayes and president of the Episcopal
Conference of Haiti, Archbishop Thomas Gerald Wenski of Miami,
U.S.A., Alberto Piatti, president of the AVSI (Association of
Volunteers in International Service) Foundation, engaged in a
charitable works on the island, and Eduardo Marques de Almeida,
former representative of the Inter-American Development Bank in
Haiti. At 11.30 a.m. the delegates present will be received in
audience by Pope Francis.
In the afternoon, there will be
presentations by those who work in the context of reconstruction, to
enable an exchange of experiences regarding the issue of
international cooperation and the priorities and criteria for future
action. At the end of the meeting, Msgr. Giampietro Dal Toso,
secretary of “Cor Unum”, will give an overview of the problems
that still remain to be resolved.
The conference will end with a Mass
celebrated by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin in the
church of Santa Maria in Traspontina, at 6.30 p.m.
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