Dolan to Haiti

Whispers in the Loggia reports:

Archbishop Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York and Chairman of the Board of Catholic Relief Services, will attend the funeral Mass for Archbishop Joseph Serge Miot, Archbishop of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, who was killed in last week’s catastrophic earthquake. The funeral will be held on Saturday, January 23, 2010 in the plaza in front of the demolished Cathedral.

Because he is the Chairman of CRS, the Archbishop was asked to attend the funeral by the Papal Ambassador to Haiti, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, and the surviving bishops of Haiti. While in Haiti, the Archbishop will also take the opportunity to offer support to CRS workers already working in Haiti and assess the progress of relief efforts being undertaken by CRS so as to help determine how the Church in the United States can best respond.

Prayers for NY's Archbishop as he heads off to mourn the death of Archbishop Miot and to access the needs of the country. I was struck by the fact that the funeral will be in the plaza in front of the demolished Cathedral. That has to be a tough place to witness to this man's life. The Cathedral's collapse along with the city's speaks to the need for public worship and gathering. This was where everyone came to pray--indeed why should that change now?

A church is never marked by a building itself, but rather by what it is that the church inspires the community to be. In this case, scenes from this funeral should be a remarkable symbol of the faith of the Haitian people. Don't miss it.

Archbishop of Port-au-Prince dies in Quake

A hat tip to bill_brown @ Twitter and the Miami Herald

PARIS -- A Roman Catholic priest in France says Monsignor Joseph Serge Miot, the archbishop of Port-au-Prince, has died in the Haiti earthquake.

Father Pierre Le Beller of the Saint Jacques Missionary Center in western France says fellow missionaries in Haiti told him they found Miot's body in the ruins of the archdiocese office.

Miot was 63.

The Archbishop was well noted for speaking out in support of one of Haiti's most famous political prisioners, Fr. Gérard Jean-Juste who was 1 of nearly 700 reported political prisoners in Haiti. Fr Gerry, who died not that long ago himself after a long illness was a vocal opponent of torture by the government and and incredible supporter of the poor.

Haiti's interim government spared no effort to build a case against Fr. Jean-Juste in the Court of Public Opinion. Prime Minister Gérard Latortue announced there was a valid warrant for his arrest, Justice Minister Bernard Gousse promised evidence that the priest was financing violence, the police declared him responsible for disturbing the peace and for attacking them. The prosecutor insisted Fr. Jean-Juste was an accomplice to two murders.

The case had no merit whatsoever, but it took the Archbishop to deploy much of his own political capital along with the help of "the peace Bishop" Bishop Tom Gumbleton to get the case thrown out. Because of his work, Haitians were able to continue to be served by the work of Fr Gerry.

Amongst the many dead in Haiti, this man was a giant who served his people with peace.