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The
Catholic community in the United
States is responding immediately to the people of
Haiti where a massive
earthquake struck near the capital of Port-au-Prince on Tuesday. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and was still recovering from deadly
2008 hurricanes when the quake struck. It is difficult to absorb the misery and
devastation they are experiencing at this moment. Thank you for your concern and
prayers for those affected by this natural
disaster.
Included
here for your use are:
1. USCCB News Release
2. Bulletin /Pulpit Announcement
3. Homily Notes
4. General Intercessions
5. Prayer(s)
6. Quotes and Interviews
USCCB
News Release—U.S.
Bishops Mourn Devastation in Haiti, Urge Special Collection
January 16-17 to Support Efforts of USCCB, CRS
January 13,
2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
En
Español
WASHINGTON—The Church
mourns the terrible suffering of the people of Haiti, and parishes across the
country are urged to take up a special collection the weekend of January 16-17
for the humanitarian efforts of the U.S. bishops and Catholic Relief Service
(CRS) in Haiti, according to a January 13 letter to Catholic bishops of the
United States from Cardinal Francis George of Chicago and Archbishop Timothy
Dolan of New York.
Cardinal George,
President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), and
Archbishop Dolan, chair of CRS board, said the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that
ravaged Haiti 'destroyed countless homes,
churches, seminaries, schools, and other buildings and has left millions without
the most basic necessities of life. Our faith compels us to pray for and reach
out to our brothers and sisters in their time of suffering.'
The full letter
follows:
Your
Eminence/Excellency:
Our Church mourns the
terrible suffering of our brothers and sisters in Haiti. The 7.0
magnitude earthquake that ravaged Haiti on January 12, 2010 has already
claimed thousands of lives including the Archbishop of Port-au-Prince. It has
destroyed countless homes, churches, seminaries, schools, and other buildings
and has left millions without the most basic necessities of life. Our faith
compels us to pray for and reach out to our brothers and sisters in their time
of suffering.
We invite you to
encourage your pastors to take up a second collection for the people and
Church of
Haiti this weekend, January
16 and 17, 2010. These funds will be used to support the efforts of the United
States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic Relief Services, the official
international humanitarian agency of the U.S. Catholic Church, as they respond
to immediate emergency needs for such necessities as water, food, shelter and
medical care, as well as to the long term need to rebuild after widespread
destruction, and to the pastoral and reconstruction needs of the Church in
Haiti.
Catholic Relief
Services is already mounting a major emergency response to this severe disaster
and has committed an initial $5 million to fund relief efforts which are likely
to go on for some time. Your help and the help of the Catholic people of the
United
States are urgently
needed.
Next weekend January
23-24, many dioceses are scheduled to take up the Collection for the Church in
Latin America. This Collection is vitally
important for our ability to respond to the pastoral needs of the Church in
Haiti and other parts of
Latin America in the weeks and months ahead. We
urge that you use both of these opportunities to express our solidarity and our
loving support for our brothers and sisters in Haiti and ask
you not to substitute one collection for the other.
Additional
information on the U.S. Catholic community's response to this emergency and how
U.S. Catholics can help can be found at CRS.org and
USCCB.org
Cardinal Francis
George, O.M.I.
Archbishop of Chicago
President
Most Reverend Timothy
M. Dolan
Chairman
Catholic Relief Services
This
release is also available at: www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2010/10-009.shtml
Bulletin
Insert /Pulpit Announcements
The Catholic
community in the United
States is reaching out to our brothers and sisters in
Haiti in significant and immediate
ways. Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the official international humanitarian
agency of the U.S. Catholic Church, is mounting a major emergency response to
this disaster and has made an initial commitment of 5 million dollars for
immediate use in the relief effort.
Please keep those who
are suffering in your prayers.
If you would like to
donate, please call 1-877-HELP-CRS, donate online at www.crs.org , or send a check to
Catholic Relief Services, P.O. Box
17090, Baltimore, MD 21203-7090. In the memo portion of your
check, please write: Haiti Earthquake
Homily
Notes
Homily notes
for weekend liturgies have references to the Haiti disaster
and can be found at http://crs.org/crsfacts/
General
Intercessions:
For our
Brothers and Sisters in Haiti Affected by the
Earthquake
For the people of
Haiti, that they may be comforted in
their time of suffering. We pray to the Lord.
Lord Hear Our
Prayer
For the families of
those missing, may God's healing presence comfort them in this time of
uncertainty. We pray to the Lord.
Lord Hear Our Prayer
For those providing
relief, that God may give them the strength and courage to assist those who are
most in need. We pray to the Lord.
Lord Hear Our
Prayer
For those who have
died, that they may rest in the eternal peace of God. We pray to the Lord.
Lord Hear Our
Prayer.
Prayer:
God of all creation,
as we weep with our family in Haiti, console
us.
In this time of
crisis, open our eyes to look beyond the disaster
to see Christ in our
brothers and sisters in Haiti, as Christ sees
us.
Be with all creation;
strengthen us in solidarity with those living and working in Haiti. All
creation returns to you in mourning and your grace guides our efforts to feed
the hungry, shelter the homeless, comfort the grieving and stand for
justice.
With your mercy,
sustain us at this time as we continue to work for peace and
justice.
Amen.
Quotes
and Interviews:
Interview
with Archbishop Dolan: Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of
New York, chairman of Catholic Relief Services,
reflects on the tragedy in Haiti in a video interview posted on
the Catholic News Service blog at http://cnsblog.wordpress.com/ .
Watch the
interview.
From
the Field:
Karel Zelenka, CRS
Country Representative in Haiti: 'I've been in earthquakes
before. This was a major hit. And it was direct. Thousands must be
dead.'
From
the Washington
Post:
"People
are out in the streets, crying, screaming, shouting," Karel Zelenka, director of
the Catholic Relief Services office in Haiti, said Tuesday night. "They see
the extent of the damage," he said, but could do little to rescue people trapped
under rubble because night had fallen.
"There
are a lot of collapsed buildings," Zelenka said in a telephone interview from
Port-au-Prince.
"This will be a major, major disaster."
He
reported that poorly constructed shantytowns and other buildings had crumbled in
huge clouds of dust. Near the CRS headquarters, a supermarket was "completely
razed," he said, and a gasoline station and a church were reduced to
rubble.
Read more
here.
The response
will no doubt go on for some time, so feel free to share this with parishes or
other groups for use over the next few weeks. For more information and for
copies of these resources, go to www.crs.org , www.crsespanol.org and
www.usccb.org/jphd .
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