Do not forget Haiti, leading archbishop exhorts

Archbishop Louis Kebreau

Months after the disastrous January earthquake, Archbishop Louis Kebreau has urged the rest of the world not to forget Haiti as media attention turns elsewhere.

The Archbishop of Cap-Haitien and President of the Haitian Bishops Conference made his comments during a trip to Paris. He was received there on Monday by Cardinal André Vingt-Trois on behalf of the French Bishops' Conference.

According to SIR News, Archbishop Kebreau told the French bishops about the situation of Haiti.

The earthquake hit a population “already heavily affected by uncertainty and deeply shocked.”

Those who had some social status are now “the new poor.” The dead “cannot be buried but in mass graves,” he said.

“Let’s not forget Haiti,” the archbishop said. “The media are too quick to wipe events out, as they chase one after the other.”

He spoke of the situation’s “complexity,” reporting “everything needs to be rebuilt.”

Fr. Bernard Podvin, spokesman of the French Bishops Conference, said the Haitian prelate delivered “moving words” which “emphasize all of man’s fragility and the imperative of fraternity between nations.”