The Hermeneutic of Continuity

As well as sending money over to Haiti, I am sure that we are all remembering the Haitians in our prayers: especially those who have died, those who mourn them, and all those who are suffering in the aftermath. I was grateful to receive from a correspondent today a reminder of the Venerable Pierre Toussaint who was born into slavery on a Haitian plantation. M. Berard, the plantation owner, moved to New York in 1787 because he could foresee the inevitable rebellion of the slaves that broke out finally in 1791 with the ensuing death of about 100,000 black slaves and 24,000 whites. In New York, Ven Pierre worked as a hairdresser. He earned enough to buy his freedom but continued in slavery to Madame Berard after her husband died, in order that she would accept his help. One her deathbed, she wrote a directive that he should be freed. The Ven Pierre could have amassed a considerable fortune through his hairdressing since his customers were among the most wealthy in New York and he w...

The other day I mentioned the work of Missio in Haiti . Fr John Boyle has a good informative post in which he gives a number of links to various Church based charities doing good work in the area. He particularly recommends Aid to the Church in Need which is another excellent choice. They have contact with the Nuncio in Haiti so that funds can be speedily routed through one of the few administrative buildings still standing. Yet another is the Knights of Malta which has been working in Haiti for fifteen years in support of a hospital. They are preparing to send an international medical team to support their people who are already on the ground.

I have received via email a report from Mgr John Dale, the National Director of Missio concerning the disaster in Haiti : After the earthquake Archbishop Bernadito Auza, Papal Nuncio to Haiti, only a few hours after the catastrophic earthquake, wrote: ‘I have just returned this morning. I found priests and nuns in the streets, without homes. The Rector of the seminary survived, as did the Dean of Studies, but the seminarians are under the rubble. Everywhere, you can hear cries from under the rubble. The CIFOR - Institute of Studies for the Men and Women Religious - has collapsed with the students inside, participating in a conference. The nunciature building has withstood the earthquake, without any injuries, but we are all amazed! So many things are broken, including the Tabernacle, but we are more fortunate than others. Many family members of the staff were killed, their homes destroyed. Everyone is calling for help. We will have problems of water and food before long. We cannot ...