Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Jan 22, 2010 / 15:14 pm
Funerals for Archbishop of Port-au-Prince Serge Miot and Vicar General Charles Benoit, who both died in the catastrophic earthquake last week in Haiti, will be held on Saturday, January 23. During the Mass, the Apostolic Nuncio will read a message from Pope Benedict to all the country's Catholics.
Speaking to CNA outside the Apostolic Nunciature in Haiti, the Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Bernardito Auza said he expects large crowds to attend the funeral services for Archbishop Miot “because he was very beloved. Priests, religious and lay people will be present.”
“The archbishop's burial will be temporary,” the nuncio explained. “As an archbishop, he has the privilege of being laid to rest in the Cathedral, but since the Cathedral was destroyed, he will only be able to be transferred there once a new one is built, and we don't know when that will happen.”
Archbishop Auza told CNA that the Funeral Mass will start at 8 a.m. in front of the cathedral and that the main celebrant will be the President of the Conference of Bishops of Haiti, Archbishop Louis Kebreau of Cap-Haitien. The homilist will be H.E. Bishop Joseph Lafontant, Auxiliary Bishop of Port-au-Prince.