Nuncio reports no gas, water, electricity in Port-au-Prince

January 15, 2010

Reporting on the situation in Haiti’s capital. Archbishop Bernardito Auza, apostolic nuncio to Haiti, has told the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples that “we are in great distress. We have no water reserves and gas stations are closed. There is no electricity … We are in need of everything.”

Archbishop Auza reported that Archbishop Joseph Miot of Port-au-Prince died on January 12 when he was thrown from a balcony during the earthquake. Archbishop Miot, 63, was ordained a priest in 1975, appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Port-au-Prince in 1997, and became Archbishop of Port-au-Prince in 2008. The nuncio said that the vicar general and chancellor of the archdiocese were also buried under the rubble.

The nation of 8.8 million is 80% Catholic; the Church in Haiti has ten dioceses, 338 parishes, 791 priests, 1,851 sisters, and 421 seminarians.

 

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Further information:

• “The aftershocks continue, although less violent. We are in need of everything and will be for quite awhile!” (Fides)
• Catholic institutions in ruins, says nuncio to Haiti (CWN, 1/14)
• Pope pleads for emergency help for devastated Haiti (CWN, 1/13)