In Haiti, bishop sees Church as ‘last remaining retaining wall’ against gangs
August 14, 2026
» Continue to this story on Aid to the Church in Need
CWN Editor's Note: A Haitian bishop described the Church as “last remaining retaining wall”—“moral, ethical, spiritual, and prophetic”—against gangs.
“That is why they want to eliminate us,” Bishop Joseph Gontrand Décoste, S.J., of Jérémie told Aid to the Church in Need.
The charity reported that amid the Haitian conflict, some 65 parishes have had to close, 40 of them in the nation’s capital, Port-au-Prince. The 200 seminarians who study at the interdiocesan seminary there “sometimes have to throw themselves to the ground and take shelter under the bed to avoid being hit by a stray bullet.”
“The children of the Virgin Mary never lose a battle,” said Bishop Décoste. “That is why we keep going.”
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