Felician Sisters of North America Mission: Haiti

Our container arrived in December and waited for us to unpack and distribute many long-awaited and much-needed items for the church, clinic and our people. It was a long week of full days of work, but it was well worth it.

We were blessed to have the blessing of candles and Celebration of the Eucharist on the feast of the Presentation on February 2. Fr. Lautere welcomed the Lord in the Temple as we, too, carried our lamps to be the Light of Christ to all. These lights represent our faith as we begin again our mission here in Jacmel.

This was the theme of our First Penance Service of those who received Baptism and their First Holy Communion in August. On Friday, October 29, our young people came dressed before the Lord to meet Him for the first time in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. it was a beautiful service led by Father Emanuel. In such trying times this celebration gave all of us a moment of peace and comfort that God will not abandon us.

After the service all enjoyed a sweet cupcake made by Sr. Izzy.

Once a week, we meet with our youth and young adults for prayer. These days we are focusing our prayer on the situation that is devastating the country. We pray for the missionaries who have been kidnapped and for the conversion of the kidnappers; for the situation with the gangs and the lack of gas being sent throughout the country; for those who are sick and suffering due to this chaos. We end our prayer with the Divine Mercy Chaplet.

These days in Haiti have not been easy, especially for the children. They come to us for peace of mind and heart, for food and to have some kind of normalcy in their lives. We are trying our best to continue activities.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A gang blamed for kidnapping five priests and two nuns earlier this year in Haiti is now accused of kidnapping 17 missionaries from a U.S.-based organization, including a 2-year-old, police said Sunday.

The 400 Mawozo gang kidnapped the group — which also included some elderly people — in Ganthier, a commune that lies east of the capital of Port-au-Prince, Haitian police inspector Frantz Champagne told The Associated Press.

The gang, whose name roughly translates to 400 “inexperienced men,” controls the Croix-des-Bouquets area that includes Ganthier, where they carry out kidnappings and carjackings and extort business owners, according to authorities.

Haiti is once again struggling with a spike in gang-related kidnappings that had diminished in recent months, after President Jovenel Moïse was fatally shot at his private residence on July 7 and a 7.2-magnitude earthquake killed more than 2,200 people in August.

The missionaries were on their way home Saturday from building an orphanage, according to a message from Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries sent to various religious missions.

“This is a special prayer alert,” the one-minute message said. “Pray that the gang members would come to repentance.”

The message says the mission’s field director is working with the U.S. Embassy, and that the field director’s family and one other unidentified man stayed at the ministry’s base while everyone else visited the orphanage.

No other details were immediately available.

A U.S. government spokesperson said officials were aware of the reports on the kidnapping.

“The welfare and safety of U.S. citizens abroad is one of the highest priorities of the Department of State,” the spokesperson said, declining further comment.

Meanwhile, a senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States is in touch with Haitian authorities to try to resolve the case.

Gangs have demanded ransoms ranging from a couple hundred dollars to more than $1 million, according to authorities.

Last month, a deacon was killed in front of a church in the capital of Port-au-Prince and his wife kidnapped, one of dozens of people who have been abducted in recent months.

At least 328 kidnapping victims were reported to Haiti’s National Police in the first eight months of 2021, compared with a total of 234 for all of 2020, according to a report issued last month by the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti known as BINUH.

Gangs have been accused of kidnapping schoolchildren, doctors, police officers, busloads of passengers and others as they grow more powerful. In April, a man who claimed to be the gang leader of the 400 Mawozo told a radio station that they were the ones responsible for kidnapping five priests, two nuns and three relatives of one of the priests that month. They were later released.

A protest is scheduled for Monday to decry the nation’s lack of security.

“Political turmoil, the surge in gang violence, deteriorating socioeconomic conditions — including food insecurity and malnutrition — all contribute to the worsening of the humanitarian situation,” BINUH said in its report. “An overstretched and under-resourced police force alone cannot address the security ills of Haiti.”

On Friday, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to extend the U.N. political mission in Haiti.

The kidnapping of the missionaries comes just days after high-level U.S. officials visited Haiti and promised more resources for Haiti’s National Police, including another $15 million to help reduce gang violence, which this year has displaced thousands of Haitians who now live in temporary shelters in increasingly unhygienic conditions.

Among those who met with Haiti’s police chief was Uzra Zeya, U.S. under secretary of state for civilian security, democracy, and human rights.

“Dismantling violent gangs is vital to Haitian stability and citizen security,” she recently tweeted. 

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Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

On Saturday, October 9, our community gathered to celebrate and remember the transitus of our beloved foundress, Blessed Mary Angela. Gathering around the Word of God and the candle light that represented her life and legacy, we remembered…

Blessed Angela your light we want to be…sung in three languages.

May the Lord be your everything everywhere in place of everyone. May He fill your soul with all kinds of consolations. Mother Angela

On Saturday, October 2, Sisters Izajasza and Julitta gave presentations on the Felician Haiti Mission in Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Polish School.

Peace and all good be with you! On Saturday evening, September 25, and Sunday, September 26, we were making mission appeals near and far. In the Gospel on the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, we heard: “Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.” This was last Sunday’s Gospel that gave us the opportunity to do mission appeals here in New Jersey and in Warsaw, Poland.

The people of God have given and are continuing to give many “cups of water”to the Felician Haiti Mission. Your generosity, prayer and support have once again reflected God’s unconditional love for the poor.

We are very grateful and will keep in our daily prayer you and your intentions in thanksgiving for all the good you have done.

We have so many opportunities to live in many ways: by being present to one another, by sharing mercy and compassion, and by sharing the resources we have received with the less fortunate. Our brothers and sisters in Haiti continue to experience the effects of the earthquake of August 14. The aftermath challenges livelihoods and will continue to challenge their daily lives. What is the way we can accompany and assist them? We need to be ready and to share the medications, clothing and other materials, which are being sent down in a container, that will aid and give hope. So many people have responded to this call from near and far. Monetary donations have already been put into place with medications and access to clean water. This is happening because of you. Your generous response is making a difference. This is what it means to put flesh on “whatever you do, in word and deed, do in the name of the Lord…” All things are possible with God!