Catholic Religion

On July 16, 2018, the Holy Father Pope Francis appointed Mgr. Launay Saturné as the new Metropolitan Archbishop of Cap-Haïtian. He will replace Monsignor Max Leroy Mesidor. Mgr. Saturné was the President of the Episcopal Conference of Haiti CEH and Bishop of the Diocese of Jacmel. He made a reputation for being outspoken. He recently denounced the living conditions of Haitians and some decisions of the current Government.

On July 16, 2018, Monsignor Launay Saturne, 54, was appointed as the Bishop of Jacmel, Metropolitan Archbishop of Cap-Haitien (Haiti). Monsignor Eugene Martin Nugent, the Apostolic Nuncio to Haiti confirmed that the Holy Father, Pope Francis has appointed Monsignor Launay Saturné (President of the Episcopal Conference of Haiti CEH and Bishop of the Diocese of Jacmel), as the new Metropolitan Archbishop of Cap-Haitien. He replaced Monsignor Max Leroy Mesidor, enthroned Archbishop of Port-au-Prince in last January. The new appointment came amid a tensed situation between President Moïse and the CEH. Monsignor Saturne was never a choice of President Moïse because of his outspoken nature.

Launay Saturné was born on January 14, 1964 in Delatte (Petit-Goâve) in the Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince. He became ordained priest on March 10, 1991 for the archdiocese of Port-au-Prince. Then he took the responsibility of Vicar of the Sacred Heart parish of Turgeau, at Port-au-Prince (1991-1997), and Director of the Propedeutique [foundation course for first-year University students] House at Jacquet, for the Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince. From 1998 to 2003 he studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, obtaining a doctorate in Dogmatic Theology (Ecclesiology). The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI named him as the Bishop of Jacmel in April 2010. Since November 2017, he is the President of the Episcopal Conference of Haiti.

On April 28, 2012 when he was named Bishop of Jacmel by Pope Benedict XVI, he said, "the construction of physical buildings is not enough; we must rebuild the Haitian people." He called on the government of Haiti to develop vocational training programs, and to make public education available to all young people. He criticized the task of the Provisional Electoral Council that brought Martelly into power.

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June 29, 2016 - Swearing in of the elected bishop of Hinche , Mgr . Desinord Jean , before the President of the Republic, Jocelerme Privert , at the National Palace.

On June 29, 2016, the swearing in of the Monsignor Desinord Jean as the new Bishop of Hinche took place before the President of the Republic Jocelerme Privert at the National Palace. Désinord Jean (born in 1967) was ordained priest in 1994. He was well known to the Haitian community for his radio programs on Radio Télé soleil. On April 4, 2016, the Vatican nominated him as the new Bishop of Hinche, succeeding Mgr Simon-Pierre Saint-Hillien, who died in July 2015. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Hinche was founded on 20 April 1972; it is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Cap-Haïtien. On Saturday, July 2, 2016, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of Hinche, the ceremony of Episcopal ordination and enthronement of the new bishop took place in the presence of Catholic clergies, including Cardinal Chibly Langlois and the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Eugène Martin Nugent, many representatives of the Church in Haiti and abroad, Christian community of Hinche and many other government representatives.

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July, 2, 2016 - ceremony of episcopal ordination and enthronement of new bishop of Hinche, Mgr Désinord Jean at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of Hinche.

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(((C:UNITED STATESFLORIDALITTLE HAITINotre Dame D'Haiti)))

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New Notre Dame d'Haiti Church in Little Haiti

After 35 years of hard work, began by the then Archbishop Thomas Wenski, the New Notre Dame d'Haiti Church in Little Haiti celebrated its first mass at the beginning of Black History Month. The church's pastor, Father Jean-Mary spoke about the long road towards this point as it took the church eight years of fundraising to make the dream come through.

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Here is a picture of Mgr. Patrick Aris, spokesman for the Episcopal Conference

The design of the reconstructed new Cathedral of Port-au-Prince has been submitted in the last week of December. The Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince, responsible for the reconstruction has said that the construction work of a transitional church, on the space of the former Cathedral of street Docteur Aubry is underway. According to Mgr Patrick Aris, Vicar and Chancellor of the Archdiocese, the transitional church will be used throughout the reconstruction period so that the Bishop can continue to celebrate the religious services in place of the Notre Dame Cathedral. Cathedral of Street Docteur Aubry was destroyed by a fire in 1991. The design for the new cathedral was chosen following a competition organized by the University Of Miami School Of Architecture, in partnership with the Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince and Faith and Form Magazine; 250 architects from around the world presented 134 project designs in the last year (2014). At a cost of $1 million, the new church will have 2,000 seats and it is expected to be completed in 9 months.

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Here is a picture of Sister Dona. She was found innocent after 42 months in prison.

On December 17, 2015, Dieudonne Pierre Bélizaire, better known as Sister Dona, founder of the orphanage of 'Sisters Redemptive of Nazareth", has been cleared of kidnapping charges in a criminal court in Port-au-Prince, and was released immediately. Sister Dona was in the Civil Prison of Petion-ville since 21 June 2012 in connection with the kidnapping of a child named 'Raphaël Chenet' from her orphanage, a crime which she vehemently denied from the beginning. During the crime, as per report, she was not even in Haiti. As per Kenscoff Peace Court records, Djimmy Mémé, one employee of the orphanage, had confessed the crime on July 18, 2011; he took $2,000 from a couple (Péguy Blanc and Christine) who wanted to adopt Raphaël Chenet. Djimmy picked up the child from the orphanage and handed the child to Péguy Blanc. Most of these facts were confirmed by Djimmy's cell phone records and were noted in the Registry records of the Kenscoff Peace Court. However, Djimmy Mémé, the main criminal of the crime despite his confessions and facts, was released by the Substitute Commissioner of the Government, Rodriguez for unknown reasons.

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Haitian-born, Mother Mary, Oblate Sisters of Providence founder, has entered the final phase of canonization as the first black female saint.

Mother Mary died in 1882 after a lifetime of service to African-American children. She established a private school for them and the first black order, the Oblate Sisters.

Her remains have been placed in the Motherhouse in Baltimore.

What remains for canonization is a Positio, enumerating her works for God, and proof of two miracles in her life.

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Here is a picture where thousands of Catholic Haitians took to the streets of Little Haiti during Easter season.

Haitian Easter Celebration & Easter Around The World

In Cuba, the Cuban Christians, in spite of their communist ideology, are far freer to practice their religious faiths. The majority of Cubans are Roman Catholic and about five percent of Cubans are Protestants. There are many churches in Cuba, but you wouldn't see any Easter displays anywhere. It is celebrated in a less publicized way. They call the holiday "Pasqua"(not as Easter), the Spanish word for Passover-- the celebrations are private and faith driven. Most of the believers visit a hilltop near Havana, where the church goes up to celebrate Easter sunrise service.

In Haiti, it is celebrated with a mixture of Catholic and Voodoo traditions. Faith plays a great role in Haitian life. They look to God for every need. The Holy Week is marked by colorful parades and traditional "rara" music is played on bamboo trumpets, maracas, drums and even on coffee cans; the celebration is marked by drumming, chanting and animal sacrifices. They paint their walls and cars in bright colors with the inscription 'merci Jesus!.

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Here is Archbishop Guire Poulard of Port-au-Prince

The Archbishop Guire Poulard of Port-au-Prince has expressed his satisfaction over the building of a transitional cathedral next to the historical Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral and viewed the effort as a major accomplishment. The cathedral was built between 1884 and 1914; it was dedicated on 13 December, 1928, and became the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince till it was destroyed in the 2010 earthquake. It has been rebuilt as one 1,500-seat transitional cathedral and dedicated in November 2014 when the ceremony was attended by church leaders from the U.S. and other places. Poulard has admitted that after serving as the bishop in the Jacmel and Les Cayes dioceses for a total of 23 years, his appointment as the Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince was a big responsibility that he undertook on Jan. 12, 2011, exactly one year after the earthquake. The Port-au-Prince Archdiocese continues to rebuild its ministries since the country's 2010 earthquake.

While meeting the representatives of the Catholic News Service on March 10, 2015, Poulard has told that the Port-au-Prince archdiocese is presently working with over 60 active projects, most of which are of the pastoral in nature. Thirty new parishes have been formed, the new ministries have emphasized on the greater involvement and support for religious congregations serving rural and urban communities. With the assistance coming from Haitian Catholics, the Haitian Diaspora and some international partners in pastoral efforts and some reconstruction projects, the progress has remained slow but the working is going at a steady pace. Haitian churchgoers and diaspora, both are determined to rebuild the church and their country. PROCHE has undertaken some other rebuilding works related to church- reconstruction projects, in addition to those undertaken by the Port-au-Prince archdiocese. PROCHE is a partnership of the dioceses of Haiti, with the Catholic Church and numerous institutions and individuals in Haiti and throughout the world under the patronage of Conference Episcopale d'Haiti (CEH).

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Archevèque métropolitain du Cap-Haïtien, Mgr Max Leroy Mésidor

Mgr. Mesidor Vows Fealty to Haiti

Pope Benedict XV appointed Mgr. Mesidor Diocesan Bishop of Fort-Liberté. Mgr. Mesidor took an oath of fealty to the Holy See Concordat, Article 5.

Mesidor vowed ". . . to keep respect and loyalty to the Constitution of Haiti . . . for the . . . common good . . . and defense of the interests of the Nation"

Martelly said to Mesidor, ". . . you face a difficult challenge . . ." but ". . . (we will) struggle for the soul of Haiti . . ."

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