This past week, the Diocese of Madison entered into a formal covenant of charity, prayer, and solidarity with the Diocese of Jacmel in Haiti.
Via Zoom, some of our staff and I were blessed to speak with Bishop Marie Erick Touissant and his staff, getting to know each other, sharing details of our respective dioceses, and discussing specific projects for which we here in Madison will offer financial support.
At the end of the conversation, we signed a Memo of Understanding, which outlines our mutual commitment of prayer, communication, and spiritual and material help.
Many dioceses throughout the country have embraced relationships of service and prayer with struggling dioceses in the developing world.
These ongoing commitments remind us of the universal Church, the richness of faith and spirituality in other cultures, and the need to sacrificially help our brothers and sisters who often live in a poverty beyond our imagining.
Decades ago, our diocese had such a relationship with a diocese in Ghana, Africa, which was mutually enriching for all.
Helping Haiti
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with a long history of oppression, violence, and lack of legal and democratic structures.
After having lived and served next door in the Dominican Republic (DR), I thought I had seen poverty in its direst form, but when I visited Haiti, what I experienced there made the DR look like the United States.
Most Haitians live on less than $2 a day, it suffers tremendous economic disparity, is sadly prone to natural disasters, and most Haitians do not have adequate food, water, shelter, and education.
The diocese of Jacmel, situated in the southeast corner of the country, has 36 parishes, most of which operate grade schools; one diocesan school from kindergarten to 12th grade; a diocesan university with colleges of education, financial administration, and education; a very young presbyterate; and seven Religious Orders.
Most of the territory is mountainous, which makes transportation and communication very difficult.
For this reason, the diocese operates a radio station, but the equipment is currently broken, so this may be the first project we work on.
Because of the people’s poverty, the Sunday collections are obviously small, which makes it very difficult to sustain the priests, any staff or to even carry out the basic functions of a parish.
For many years already, the parishes of St. Cecilia in Wisconsin Dells and St. Joseph in Baraboo have generously contributed to finance a medical clinic in Jacmel, which has been a great source of blessing and healing for many of the people there.
This long-standing relationship made it easier for us to expand this effective connection and formulate a covenant between the two dioceses.
I am very grateful for the remarkable generosity of our people who have already contributed so much to the health and well-being of our Haitian brothers and sisters.
In signing the Memo of Understanding, Bishop Touissant and I agreed to focus on three primary areas of support: Evangelization, health care, and education.
By supporting projects like the diocesan radio program, the sustenance of the parishes, support for the schools, and ongoing resources for the medical clinic, we will be helping the Diocese of Jacmel to live out its fundamental mission as the local Church.
Serving the whole person
The Catholic Church always seeks to serve the whole person: Body, soul, mind, and heart.
We want people to both experience eternal salvation in Jesus Christ and to fully flourish in this life as beloved children of God.
This desire fuels the Church’s heroic efforts to feed, house, and clothe people; to operate schools and hospitals, medical clinics, and counseling centers; to form all aspects of the human person and all facets of society, including the social, economic, cultural, and political.
The Church works for both justice and compassion, seeking to transform the world to converge with God’s intention and plan.
This new and exciting relationship between our diocese and the diocese of Jacmel will also enrich us, as we receive the benefit of their prayers, come to know the richness of their spirituality, and facilitate mutual visits and exchanges.
Reaching out to our brothers and sisters in the developing world, especially to Haiti, a beautiful land which bears a heavy cross of poverty, suffering, and oppression, frees us from self-concern, puts our problems in perspective, and creates a richer and fuller experience of Jesus Christ and the beauty of the universal Church.
Please join me in praying for the leaders and people of the diocese of Jacmel, supporting this relationship as opportunities arise, and seek to learn more about the beautiful people there, to whom we are bound in the great communion of the Church and the baptismal waters of Christ.
The wounds and the darkness of the world can feel overwhelming to the point of making us feel powerless.
This new, ecclesial covenant between two dioceses is a flame of hope in a sea of suffering.