Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Feb 23, 2010 / 17:08 pm
In a recent letter sent to the Catholic charity, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Archbishop Louis Kébreau, President of the Bishop's conference in Haiti, lauded the group and gave them his “deepest gratitude” for their financial contributions to the country, particularly the aid they have given to the surviving seminarians in the area.
In addition to supplying $70,000 in emergency assistance to Haiti, ACN also provided $100,000 to the remaining seminarians who survived the catastrophic Jan. 12 earthquake and were left destitute. ACN reported that at least 26 seminarians died and more than 200 of them were stranded after their seminary buildings collapsed. In his message, Archbishop Kébreau said the seminarians were now receiving ongoing medical aid and counseling.
“With this letter, I would like to express my deepest gratitude on behalf of the Bishops’ Conference of Haiti and also the seminarians…True love is compassionate. Your kind gesture gives us the strength and hope to build and unite our efforts to carry on … ,” Archbishop Kébreau told ACN earlier this week.
Aid to the Church in Need also received a message from the Apostolic Nuncio to Haiti, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, who gave them a brief report on how the charity’s money has been spent. The nuncio explained in his letter that the funding is being used for both short term projects – such as emergency aid, including food and medical care – to long term projects which include paying fees for children who attend Catholic schools in the area.