January 15, 2010
Area parishes in ‘wait and see’ mode following earthquake in Haiti
By MARY ANN HUGHES (Message staff writer)
For years, parishes throughout the Diocese of Evansville have been twinned with parishes in Haiti. That meant special collections, school fund raisers and often parishioners making mission trips to the small Caribbean nation.
Hours after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck southern Haiti, as news reports drifted in of the devastation, people in southern Indiana were trying to make connections with their Haitian connections.
John Schroering is a parishioner at Holy Family Church in Jasper. His parish is twinned with Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish in Dupity, which is located in northern Haiti.
Early Wednesday morning John said, “We are in a wait and see mode.” (Learn more about how to donate to Catholic Relief Services here)
He noted that buildings in Haiti “were built without any codes, and the infrastructure in Haiti is non-existent. There is no rebar in the buildings, and with a 7.0 earthquake everything came down — that’s the concrete structures — and a lot of what is there are shacks.”
He said that he “appreciates what we have here,” police, emergency medical personnel because “none of that exists in Haiti.” Early Wednesday morning, he said “even the phone system is down.
“It sounds like a mess, and everybody needs something down there.”
When people ask what they can do to help immediately, he recommends they make donations to Catholic Relief Services. “That is one of the best as far as return on the dollar.”
Father Gene Schroeder is the pastor at St. Joseph Church in Vanderburgh County. His par-ish is also twinned with a Haitian parish, St. James in Plain du Nord, located on the northern coast of Haiti.
When contacted by the Message early Wednesday morning, Father Gene said that his parish had been unable to make telephone contact with people at St. James. “We are in the dark, just as everyone else is.
“We haven’t had any luck contacting the people down there, and we have no idea what the situation is yet.” He noted that Haiti is a small country, and even though his parish is miles away from the epicenter “I’m sure they felt it.” He added, “I hope that’s all that happened.”
The parish is planning to send two mission teams to Haiti, one this March and a second one in April.
Deacon Mike Seibert from St. Peter Celestine Church in Celestine was getting news about Haiti on-line on early Wednesday. “I’m seeing bits and pieces,” he said. His parish is also twinned with a parish in Dupity.
When parishioners travel there on mission trips, they work with an interpreter who lives in Miami. Deacon Seibert had been in contact with her after the earthquake. “She’s from Port-au-Prince, and so far, she hasn’t heard anything from her family. She’s fearing the worst.”
The earthquake was centered about 10 miles west of Port-au-Prince.
Among parishes with connections with Haiti churches or missions is Holy Rosary Church in Evansville, where the pastor, Father Bernie Etienne, said early Wednesdaty he had not yet heard from the mission parish;
Holy Rosary has a monthly appeal envelope for parishioners, Father Etienne said. “We plan a special encouragement and bulletin appeal this weekend to give special attention to this appeal.”
At St. Mary Church in Evansville, Father Steve Lintzenich said the parish has “a somewhat connection with the parish of Notre Dame de la Caridad and its pastor, Father Joseph Dercieux Desire.”
Communication has been spotty, even in relatively calm times, however, and Father Lentzenich is waiting to see how best to be helpful.