ARTICLE - VANDALISM OF CAP-HAITIEN CATHEDRAL

RAMPAGE OF THE NOTRE-DAME CATHEDRAL IN CAP-HAITIEN

During the night of Saturday to Sunday, unknown people vandalized the Cathedral of Notre-Dame du Cap-Haitian. Objects of worship, statues of saints, and furniture have been overturned, broken or destroyed. The Vatican flag was torn and the Blessed Sacrament carried away...

Unsigned leaflets, extolling the virtues of Protestant sects, have been found there. These leaflets represented the Catholic Church as the devil's house, promising to save the country and inviting Catholics to abandon their religion. Similar leaflets, had been found in the North department during the patronal feasts.

Police and the responsables for the Archdiocese have visited the site in the presence of the faithful who were very affected. Because of the situation, the archdiocese has closed the Cathedral Notre-Dame and the Sunday morning Mass was not celebrated.

Mgr. Louis Kebreau, Archbishop of Cap-Haitien has strongly condemned these odious acts, pointing to the arrival in the country, of a series of religions that make many promises to the Haitians and who install an "unhealthy religious fanaticism" in Haiti. He calls on the Government to take all appropriate measures to monitor these groups, while deploring the weakness of the police in Cap Haitien, a city abandoned to itself. "This is not the time for religious wars. It is rather that of reconciliation [...] We must take steps to better manage the country. As long as there is no rule of law, we will continue to live in this kind of situation [...]" said Mgr. Kebreau, who announced an emergency meeting of the high clergy.

Pastor Sylvain Exantus, President of the Protestant Federation of Haiti has also strongly condemned these acts, stating that the Constitution of 1987 guarantees the freedom of religion in the country. He informed to having convened the highest Protestant leaders and that a delegation will visit the site to investigate.

For his part, the Commissioner and Departmental Director of Police, Joany Canéus, has announced the opening of an investigation and the mobilization of his workforce in order to find the perpetrators of this crime.