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Children at a school in Mathebonite, Haiti, hold up a "Box of Joy" they each received for Christmas in this undated photo. (CNS photo/Benjmain Rusnak courtesy Cross Catholic Outreach)
March 23, 2020
Agenzia FidesNIPPES, Haiti -- A Haitian bishop has urged the faithful to bring in the new meaning to Lent in the face of the global health emergency, "to make our inner life become stronger, because only in this way can we meet God and discover solidarity toward others,"
Bishop Pierre-André Dumas, Bishop of the diocese of Anse-à-Veau et Miragoâne, in Haiti, has sent the message addressed to the faithful of his diocese to Fides.
"Considering the evolution of the coronavirus pandemic in Haiti and in the world, we are faced with the risk of having to change our social and ecclesial life, which boasts a two-thousand-year tradition," Bishop Pierre-André Dumas of the Diocese of Anse-à-Veau et Miragoâne, said in a message to the faithful.
He invited all "to stay at home and make each house become a domestic Church to live in prayer and solidarity with the poorest and sickest."
The bishop askedpriests for greater pastoral presence in charity, "to announce to the people of God and to the sick of Covid-19, to health workers, the plenary indulgence; celebrate the Eucharist with a group with not more than 10 people; suspend any pastoral and religious activity with parish groups; to ensure that the community does not panic, preaching the message that God never abandons his people."
Finally, the bishop invoked the protection of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, patroness of Haiti, remembering that the people's prayer has been heard on other occasions.
Haiti, among the poorest country in America, faces the health emergency of coronavirus with very few resources. In fact, Haiti lives in a "permanent" health emergency, because there is no national health system. The real health centers are the clinics of NGOs and the church.
As of March 20, schools and ports have been closed and there are controls on all means of transport of goods." It is feared that the measures taken by the president of Haiti on the 20th will not be able to stop the mobility of groups of people who go in search of an occasional job to earn the necessary for survival," Agenzia Fides, the missionary news agency of the global church, reported.