(ZENIT News / Port-au-Prince, 02.26.2024).- Armed assailants abducted six religious Brothers and a teacher in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, on Friday (23rd February) morning.
The members of the Congregation of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart and a teacher were kidnapped outside John XXIII School in Port-au-Prince city centre around 7am.
Brother Augustin Nelson, Provincial Superior of the congregation, wrote in a statement sent to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN): “The ordeal deeply touched and saddened the members of the congregation, the families of the victims, the partners in the mission, the Church in Haiti and society as a whole.”
Brother Nelson called for “fervent prayer” for the release of the captives.
He added: “We are experiencing this test in union with the Passion of Christ during this time of Lent and we are firmly convinced that our God of compassion will change the hearts of stone of the sowers of desolation into hearts of flesh…”
John XXIII School was “closing its doors until further notice” because of the “painful event”, according to the statement.
Brother Nelson continued: “The other institutions of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart across the country will continue the work of raising awareness among the new generation on the values of living together harmoniously with a view to the emergence of a new, more humane, more united society.”
He highlighted: “For several years, absurd and unjustified violence has befallen the peaceful Haitian people, and even those who dedicate their lives to help the most vulnerable are not spared.”
In a separate incident on the same day, an armed gang kidnapped a priest and a number of faithful after morning Mass at a church in Port-au-Prince, but they were later released.
Last month six religious Sisters were abducted in the capital and freed five days later.
Brother Nelson concluded: “May the civilised world unite with the Haitian people who suffer, believe, pray and hope for the rebirth of solidarity on our planet. May the triumphant Church unite with the Pilgrim Church to intercede with the Father so that our beloved, much-tried homeland may be reborn from the ashes of its own divisions and worthy men and women capable of taking the reins of the country may arise and work together for a better future.”
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