PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, CMC – The Archbishop of Haiti, Monsignor. Max Leroy Mésidor has thanked Pope Leo XIV for expressing concerns regarding the ongoing situation in the French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries.
The Pontiff on Sunday appealed to the abductors of the Irish missionary, Gena Heraty, to release her and the children whom they kidnapped on August 3, adding that the situation in Haiti is “increasingly desperate”.
He requested “the concrete support of the international community to create the social and institutional conditions that will allow Haitians to live in peace”.
Heraty, known for her decades-long care for children with disabilities, was abducted when gunmen stormed the Saint Helena orphanage, the children’s home in Kenscoff, just outside Port-au-Prince.
“The episcopal conference of Haiti thanks the Holy Father, Pope Léon XIV, for his cry on behalf of the Haitian people and for his call to the international community so that it has more decisive and concrete measures in the face of the situation in Haiti,” said Monsignor Mésidor.
He told the Vatican media that “the Church of Haiti notes that crime no longer knows any limits in our country…”
Haiti, regarded as one of the poorest countries in the Americas, is now dominated by armed bands, with Church officials saying that even the funeral has become currency.
They said that to bury a family member, a tax must be paid to the criminal groups that control cemeteries and funeral processions. In a country where, out of 11.7 million inhabitants, around 60 per cent live in poverty, few can afford such expenses.
As a result, in rural areas like Petite-Rivière and Artibonite, families walk for hours with their dead to avoid cemeteries controlled by criminals.
The most recent data, provided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (HCDH), notes that during the first half of 2025, more than 3,000 people have been killed as a result of criminal violence.
The UN agency also cites the death of 136 children, 185 kidnappings, and 628 cases of sexual violence, with at least 1.3 million people needing food aid and 217,000 children suffering from acute malnutrition.
“We hope that the Pope’s appeal will be heard by the Haitian authorities and the international community,” said Monsignor Mésidor.
“The latter has multiplied meetings on the situation in our country, but the results are slow. The multinational security support mission (MMSS) has a minimal impact. There is a serious shortage of workforce and logistical resources,” said Monsignor Mésidor, who is also the President of the Haitian Bishops’ Conference.
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