BLOOMFIELD – Though 1,600 miles away, the catastrophic Jan. 12 earthquake in the island nation of Haiti was felt throughout the Archdiocese of Hartford, from relatives worried about family members to individuals eager to help and to parishes and agencies that maintain ongoing humanitarian ministries for the "poorest of the poor."
Scores of relief agencies, churches, philanthropic groups, and individuals sprang into action after homes, schools, churches, hospitals and offices collapsed, burying people under the rubble of the quake that rocked the capital city of Port-au-Prince.
Archbishop Henry J. Mansell was quick to issue an appeal letter calling for parishes to help in the relief and development efforts of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Catholic Relief Services (CRS).
"Please join me in praying for the Haitian people that help and comfort come to them quickly," he wrote. "We know God is with them in their suffering."
As a result, the faithful throughout the Archdiocese have opened their hearts and wallets for a special collection for Catholic Relief Services (CRS) held for several weeks in January.
Cori Thibodeau, executive director of the archdiocesan Office of Catholic Social Justice Ministry, said, "We expect our collection to [raise] a quarter- to a half-million dollars" for CRS.
CRS has been working in Haiti for 55 years and is one of the most respected humanitarian groups in the country. It made an initial commitment of $5 million for immediate use in the relief effort.
Sacred Heart Parish in Southbury, the parish of Deacon Charles Dietsch, who was buried in rubble during the first hours of the earthquake (see sidebar), raised $51,000 during the first week of the collection alone.
Father Joseph T. Donnelly, pastor, said Sacred Heart would match funds raised for CRS with monies from a parish foundation targeted for the Norwich Diocese’s Haitian Ministries, through which the parish has twinned with a sister parish, Our Lady of Seven Sorrows, in Gran Boulage.
In West Haven, Father Joseph R. Cronin, Pastor of Our Lady of Victory and St. John Vianney parishes, said parishioners raised $10,000 for CRS.
"We have Haitian families in our parish, so our people were glad to help and know it made a difference for people there," he said.
"In fact, one of our parishioners was visiting his parents in Haiti when the earthquake struck," said Father Cronin. "He had to sleep outside under a tree for a few days, but he made it out safe and sound. So that was good news."
Franciscan Father Michael Jones said that St. Patrick-St. Anthony Parish in Hartford collected $41,700 to help in the relief efforts. About $5,000 was raised for CRS, and the remainder will go to Haitian Ministries for its relief efforts, which include the parish’s twin parish, St. Genevieve in Zoranje. The parish also issued a $10,000 challenge grant urging people to join in the work going on in Haiti.
Friends in Zoranje sent word that no one was killed in the parish there, but some homes in the rural community were destroyed and the back part of the church collapsed, Father Jones said.
At St. Mary Parish in Branford, parishioners reached into their pockets to donate $25,000 that will be shared between CRS and the ministry of St. Damien Hospital for Children in Haiti.
In appealing for the funds, Father Christopher M. Ford, pastor, told parishioners about his friend, Father Rick Frechette, a Passionist priest and a medical doctor who founded St. Damien’s as well as St. Helene’s Orphanage in Haiti.
Father Frechette, a graduate of Northwest Catholic High School in West Hartford, was in Wethersfield in January with his mother, who was dying of cancer. When the quake hit, his mother said, "Go, be with your people," Father Ford said.
"I didn’t know how he was going to get into Haiti," said Father Ford. "But the next day, I saw him being interviewed by ABC’s Brian Williams. He was able to fly into the Dominican Republic and took the presidential helicopter to arrive in Haiti."
Shortly after reaching Haiti, Father Ford said, Father Frechette received word that his mother’s condition had deteriorated.
He flew back to Connecticut, and while celebrating Mass with his family at his mother’s bedside, she died during the consecration, Father Ford said.
Father Ford said that during the funeral Mass at Corpus Christi Parish, Father Frechette drew the contrast between the beautiful death of his mother and the tragic deaths of people who died in Haiti.
Father Frechette is back in Haiti caring for the desperately wounded and burying the dead at his hospital in Petionville, where the only free pediatric hospital in Haiti serves 1,200 inpatients and 20,000 outpatients a year.
Archbishop Joseph Milot of Port-au-Prince, whose Archdiocese is twinned with the Diocese of Norwich, was killed in the earthquake.
Among Connecticut religious communities suffering losses were the Montfort Fathers and Daughters of Wisdom, who have maintained schools and orphanages in Haiti for more than 100 years. The congregations reported that one priest and 10 seminarians were killed in the earthquake, and several sisters suffered injuries.
Among other parishes sponsoring sister parishes are St. Patrick in Farmington; St. Patrick in Collinsville; St. Bridget and St. Bartholomew, both in Manchester; Corpus Christi in Wethersfield; St. Elizabeth Seton in Rocky Hill; St. Ann in Avon; St. Peter Claver in West Hartford; and St. Mary in Milford.
St. Peter Claver has been raising funds for Medical Aid to Haiti (MATH) to send much-needed medical teams to Haiti through the Norwich-based Haitian Health Foundation.
St. Justin Parish in West Hartford, with one of the largest number of Haitian families in the Archdiocese, has been organizing fund-raising efforts, including a 2.5-mile walk, "CT Walks for Haiti," on April 10 in West Hartford to benefit Haitian relief organizations.
St. Barthlomew and St. Bridget parishes in Manchester regularly collect food that is distributed in Haiti. Each also gave $12,000 for CRS.
At. St. Martha School in Enfield, where students have funded the construction of six homes in Jeremie, Haiti, over the years, recently collected another $1,600 for the Haitian Health Foundation.
As is happening in many other Catholic schools, students at St. Martha remained steadfast in hope and prayer for the Haitian people while organizing fund-raisers.
