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Breaking news » Haiti: „The fact that I survived the earthquake shows me that God still needs me“

Breaking News from Haiti

• 25/02/2011: Haiti: „The fact that I survived the earthquake shows me that God still needs me“
• 12/01/2011: Haïti: New hope, despite the many problems.
• 22/12/2010: ACN at Christmas : Tidings of comfort - for the world

Bishop Launay Saturné wants to rebuild both his earthquake-shattered cathedral and  the broken lives of his people in the diocese of Jacmel

Königstein, Germany 24.02.2011: Bishop Launay Saturné wants to rebuild his cathedral, which was severely damaged in the earthquake of January 2010. He told us this during a visit to the international headquarters of the Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). A diocese could not function without a cathedral, he said, since this was  a „symbolic place“ and „a place of unity“. Until now the faithful have continued to gather to worship – in great numbers – in a tent. He is hoping that the diocese of Jacmel, which after Port-au-Prince was the hardest hit, will soon be able to find a new site. Apart from the cathedral, several other churches and other Church properties were either destroyed or severely damaged by the quake and will also need to be rebuilt.

However, as the 47-year-old bishop, who has been in office only since May 2010, emphasised, the physical rebuilding of the structures is not everything. There could be "no rebuilding without mission, without evangelisation, without prayer, without the proclamation of the Word of God", he said and added, "The fact that I survived the earthquake shows me that God still needs me and that I have a mission to fulfil. As shepherd of my diocese, I tell people who have lost everything, that even if everything else has gone, God has still spared our lives. With them we have the duty to work for a more humane, more reconciled world and for a better future."

Although the earthquake had destroyed everything, he emphasised, it had also united the Haitian people and brought out an "all-embracing brotherliness and solidarity". It had affected everyone – Catholics, Protestants and the members of other communities as well. People shared what they had with one another and comforted one another. During the many aftershocks, not only Catholics had cried out "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus". The disaster had brought Haiti closer to God and shown people that "the things of this world are very fragile", the bishop added. They are still important, of course, for people still have to "earn their living and live somewhere", he added, yet it had been shown that everything "can collapse like a house of cards". Along with the rebuilding of the buildings there must now also be a strengthening of the social fabric.

Bishop Saturné also acknowledge that the catastrophe had "focused world attention on Haiti and triggered a great solidarity". He is grateful to everyone who "showed such solidarity in the darkest hours of Haitian history", and expressed the hope that "the attention focused on the Church in Haiti will continue, so that this terrible catastrophe for Haiti will be an opportunity for rebirth and a new departure". In future, he added, "the bond of solidarity that unites us" must be further cultivated. He has great hope in the partnerships between Haitian and foreign parishes and schools. For the rebuilding of his cathedral in Jacmel and for other buildings h

Bishop Launay Saturné wants to rebuild both his earthquake-shattered cathedral and  the broken lives of his people in the diocese of Jacmel

Königstein, Germany 24.02.2011: Bishop Launay Saturné wants to rebuild his cathedral, which was severely damaged in the earthquake of January 2010. He told us this during a visit to the international headquarters of the Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). A diocese could not function without a cathedral, he said, since this was  a „symbolic place“ and „a place of unity“. Until now the faithful have continued to gather to worship – in great numbers – in a tent. He is hoping that the diocese of Jacmel, which after Port-au-Prince was the hardest hit, will soon be able to find a new site. Apart from the cathedral, several other churches and other Church properties were either destroyed or severely damaged by the quake and will also need to be rebuilt.

However, as the 47-year-old bishop, who has been in office only since May 2010, emphasised, the physical rebuilding of the structures is not everything. There could be "no rebuilding without mission, without evangelisation, without prayer, without the proclamation of the Word of God", he said and added, "The fact that I survived the earthquake shows me that God still needs me and that I have a mission to fulfil. As shepherd of my diocese, I tell people who have lost everything, that even if everything else has gone, God has still spared our lives. With them we have the duty to work for a more humane, more reconciled world and for a better future."

Although the earthquake had destroyed everything, he emphasised, it had also united the Haitian people and brought out an "all-embracing brotherliness and solidarity". It had affected everyone – Catholics, Protestants and the members of other communities as well. People shared what they had with one another and comforted one another. During the many aftershocks, not only Catholics had cried out "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus". The disaster had brought Haiti closer to God and shown people that "the things of this world are very fragile", the bishop added. They are still important, of course, for people still have to "earn their living and live somewhere", he added, yet it had been shown that everything "can collapse like a house of cards". Along with the rebuilding of the buildings there must now also be a strengthening of the social fabric.

Bishop Saturné also acknowledge that the catastrophe had "focused world attention on Haiti and triggered a great solidarity". He is grateful to everyone who "showed such solidarity in the darkest hours of Haitian history", and expressed the hope that "the attention focused on the Church in Haiti will continue, so that this terrible catastrophe for Haiti will be an opportunity for rebirth and a new departure". In future, he added, "the bond of solidarity that unites us" must be further cultivated. He has great hope in the partnerships between Haitian and foreign parishes and schools. For the rebuilding of his cathedral in Jacmel and for other buildings he is looking to the Church aid agencies, and especially to ACN.

The diocese of Jacmel lies in the southeast of Haiti and covers a region of something over 1,000 square miles (2,700 km²). It has a population of almost 530,000 souls of whom 65% are Catholics. After Port-au-Prince, it was the diocese hardest hit by the earthquake of 12 January 2010, which claimed an estimated quarter of a million human lives. To this day, vast swathes of the affected regions still lie in ruins.

e is looking to the Church aid agencies, and especially to ACN.

The diocese of Jacmel lies in the southeast of Haiti and covers a region of something over 1,000 square miles (2,700 km²). It has a population of almost 530,000 souls of whom 65% are Catholics. After Port-au-Prince, it was the diocese hardest hit by the earthquake of 12 January 2010, which claimed an estimated quarter of a million human lives. To this day, vast swathes of the affected regions still lie in ruins.