12028: Haiti's churches fill with pleas for relief (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Haiti's churches fill with pleas for relief

By Michael Norton
The Associated Press
Posted May 12 2002

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti · Wearing white, tens of thousands of Haitians flocked
to church Saturday, answering an appeal of religious leaders to pray for the
resolution of a two-year crisis that has plunged this poor nation into
deepening misery and despair.

Responding to an appeal by the Catholic Bishop's Conference and Protestant
Federation, business associations, labor unions and the opposition called on
members to join in prayer meetings across the nation.

The men in white shirts, the women in white blouses and skirts, a procession
of more than 20,000 people marched from the midtown Sacred Heart Catholic
Church several miles to the midtown Bel-Air slum and Our Lady of Perpetual
Help Catholic church.

"Long live Haiti! Down with Satan!" the people shouted.

"My duty as a citizen and my faith in God have brought me here to pray for
an end to our interminable misfortune," said Oscar Maxime Antoine, 30, who
has been unemployed for most of his adult life.

A spokesman for President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's governing Lavalas Family
party was suspicious of the organizers' intentions.

"An initiative to pray for the Haitian people should be especially dedicated
to supporting the government," said Rep. Rudy Herivaux, governing party
president of Haiti's lower house. "We feel it [the initiative] is biased and
suspect."

In an economic slump since 1980, Haiti has become one of the poorest
countries in the world. The average per capita income is about a dollar a
day, and life expectancy is 54.

At the same time, political instability has scared off local and
international investment.

Since May 2000, when Aristide's party won 80 percent of the seats in
parliamentary elections the opposition alleges were rigged, Haiti has been
mired in crisis.

Hundreds of millions of dollars in international aid have been frozen until
the government and opposition reach an agreement on new elections.

The Organization of American States began a specialized mission in Haiti
last month. One aim is to investigate a December attack on the National
Palace that has kept the government and opposition from resolving the
political stalemate. But another is to provide Haiti with technical
assistance in security, justice, human rights and governance.

The OAS mission team will remain in Haiti indefinitely.

But many Haitians, like Marie-Louise Nacilia, a 42-year-old cook, sought the
help of a higher power to help the country.

"God works miracles. If he can heal the sick and the blind, he can help
Haiti," said Nacilia, who was working Saturday but said she would go to pray
today.



_________________________________________________________________
MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos:
http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx