CAMDEN — Parishioners of St. Louis Church in Camden and Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Magnolia are demonstrating that charity really is at the heart of Catholic social teaching.
Camden and Magnolia parishioners recently agreed to set aside the second collection of every second Sunday of the month for Haiti, even before they realized that Haitians would be confronted with a cholera epidemic that could claim thousands more lives following a January earthquake that killed 300,000 people. Each church set a goal of sending $500 a month, according to their pastor, Father T.J. Hart.
St. Louis and Immaculate Heart adopted two mission churches located in the Diocese of Hinche in the central part of the island. Father Banive Peralte, who serves about 300 families each at Coupeal and Campeche, said the government often forgets the remote areas of Haiti where his parishioners live. The area is about 70 miles north of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
“The area is obviously poor and underdeveloped,” Father Peralte wrote in a recent e-mail to Father Hart. “The infrastructure is insignificant. Most families and young people, if not everyone, are living with unemployment. And life is becoming increasingly expensive due to the earthquake.”
Pere Banive, as he is known in the French-speaking, Catholic country, first met Father Hart when Father Hart and a team of parishioners from St. Mary Church in Hot Springs visited during an eight-day mission trip in November 2008. That team adopted St. Andrew Cathedral in Colladere. Father Banive serves about 3,000 families at Colladere, in addition to his duties at Coupeal and Campeche.
“One of reasons we chose this area is because Father Banive understands the long-term implications of teaching the people how to become self-sustaining,” Father Hart said. “More than just funneling money their way, the ultimate goal is to show them how to grow crops and take care of their animals so they are learning how to take care of themselves.”
Another goal is to improve access to education for hundreds of children. Father Banive’s persistence combined with strong financial support has paved the way for two small schools to open last year in Campeche and Coupeal, where a total of four teachers educate 127 students.
“The only way out for these children is through education,” Father Hart said. “They give you so much motivation when you visit; it really is like seeing Jesus in their faces. It’s very powerful.”
Long before the disaster that struck earlier this year, Father Hart learned of the systemic poverty that many Haitians have endured during his time at St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana. Father Rodolphe Balthazar, a Haitian native and former classmate of Father Hart, introduced him to another Haitian priest, Father Isadore Rahab. Father Rahab knew of Father Banive and made the introductions during Father Hart’s mission trip in 2008.
Father Hart said he trusts Father Banive a great deal and that the priest gives an accounting of every dollar donated to his community. With $3,000 flowing into that area every month now from the churches in Hot Springs, Magnolia and Camden, Mission Haiti provides assurance that at least the children are receiving food every day, according to Father Hart.
“This mission is not my mission, it belongs to the people,” he said. “I’m profoundly grateful for the generosity of our parishioners. They may not represent extremely large parishes, but what they are doing is affecting human lives in an extremely large way.”
For more information, contact St. Louis Church in Camden at (870) 836-2426.
