Sister Parish: Mary Our Queen in Haiti
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St. Francis de Sales (SFDS) - Abingdon, Maryland
SFDS > About the Parish > Sister Parish: Mary Our Queen in Haiti

The St. Francis de Sales Pastoral Council has decided to partner with a sister parish: Mary Our Queen in L’Estere/Grand Saline, Haiti in the Diocese of Gonaives. The pastor of this parish, Father Isaac Previllion visited our parish on the July 30 to 31, 2005.  Like most Haitians, Father speaks French.

The immediate purposes of the partnership are several:
  • Spiritual – We will pray for the people of Mary Our Queen Parish regularly in our Prayer of the Faithful. Deacon Jim Sullivan, from his visit to Haiti last December, can attest to the strong faith of the Haitian people. Their dire poverty has not starved their faith.
  • Cultural – We will learn more about these people and their situation. Their country and standard of living is far different from ours. For example, parents often have difficulty meeting the annual school tuition of $10. That gives us some idea of the abject poverty and terrible condition of Haiti’s economy. It also tells us that a little help from us can go a long way in Haiti.
  • Communication – We hope to have a sharing of correspondence with Father Previllion and others in the parish. We are even thinking that a pen pal relationship might be possible between our children and youth and those of Mary Our Queen Parish.
  • Financial – We have decided to devote one Poor Box per month to give to this parish. Their needs are many and Father Previllion has outlined them in a detailed letter. Right now, we think that, given the usual generosity of the people of Saint Francis de Sales Parish, we will be able to contribute about $10,000 a year to this parish.

The Haiti Project

Haiti

The country of Haiti comprises about 1/3 of the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean. It shares its eastern border with the Dominican Republic and geographically, is slightly smaller than Maryland. Haiti has a population of 7,500,000. It secured its independence from France through a slave revolt in 1804 and almost ever since, has been plagued by civil unrest. Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. The average life expectancy in Haiti is 51.6 years. There is a high infant and maternal mortality rate. About 1 in 5 children dies before his or her fifth birthday. About 80% of the population lives in abject poverty. About 80% of the adult population is illiterate.
 
In the Diocese of Gonaives, there are 29 parishes and 226 chapels or missions of these parishes. There are 800,000 Catholics and they are served by only 65 priests. There are also 82 elementary schools and 16 high schools in the diocese of Gonaives. Each of the 29 parishes has one main parish church, usually in the main population center that it serves. Each parish also has at least 5 chapels or missions spread out in the smaller population centers. Usually these chapels are very rudimentary places, with just a makeshift altar and some trees or branches sheltering it. Most chapels cannot be reached by car and some are visited by a priest only a few times a year. Given the small number of priests, the role of sacristans for organizing Sunday worship and of catechists for imparting the faith is crucial.

The needs of these parishes are many: feeding and catechetical programs for children, adult literacy classes, training of catechists and teachers, construction of chapels and schools, etc.

Dr. Mortel

Following several trips to Haiti, Cardinal Keeler designated the Diocese of Gonaives as a sister diocese of the Archdiocese of Baltimore in 1997. The Cardinal asked the Archdiocesan Director of the Propagation of the Faith (an office focused on missionary activities) to develop what we now call the Haiti Project. The Director of that office is Dr. Rodrigue Mortel, M.D. Dr. Mortel is a Haitian and is a medical doctor here in the United States. He is also a permanent deacon. The Haiti Project basically takes the form of partnering parishes in our Archdiocese with parishes in the Diocese of Gonaives. To date, 12 parishes here have chosen to partner with a sister parish in Haiti. The Diocese of Gonaives has about 800,000 Catholics. There are 29 parishes and 226 chapels or missions of these parishes.