Haiti Sister Parish: Immaculate Conception in Milot

Date:  November 9, 2024
Subject:  Our sister parish in Haiti

Dear Parishioner,

When I first arrived at this parish, I discovered that we had a relationship with a sister parish in Milot, Haiti. When the pastor of that parish, Fr. Tijwa, came for a visit, to thank us for our support, he invited us to come to Haiti and visit. This resulted in the formation of our Haiti committee and several trips to Haiti over the next few years to visit Fr. Tijwa and the parish of the Immaculate Conception in Milot. We were able to report back to our own parishioners the various needs of the community, and in addition to our monthly collection to support the people in Haiti, we also identified a special project to help repair the roof of their church. Fr. Alain Prophete succeeded Fr. Tijwa as pastor of the parish, and our relationship continued with him very fruitfully. In 2018, we visited again and participated in a community wedding celebration at Immaculate Conception, with many of our parishioners donating wedding dresses for the occasion. 

At a certain point, we had a large group of people planning on going to visit our sister parish, but the political unrest in the country made it impossible. Since then, we have only been able to support the parish in Milot from afar with our monthly donations. However, I have kept up correspondence with Fr. Alain, and he updates us on the many things happening there. We of course shared their grief when the church that we had helped repair burned to the ground, with a suspicion of arson during that period of unrest. As you may recall, one of our commitments in the recent capital campaign, Under One Roof, was to support our sister parish in Haiti with 5% of the funds raised given to them. They are very grateful for this support. 

Last month, Fr. Alain let us know that he had been assigned to another parish as part of a major reassignment of many priests in the Archdiocese of Cap-Haitien. In his place was sent Fr. Dabel Peterson, and I recently had the opportunity to meet him via video chat. Fr. Dabel has been ordained for ten years and was a good friend of Fr. Alain. He recently obtained a Master of Pastoral Theology in Paris, and this is his first pastorate. We discussed many of the needs of the parish there in Milot. In particular he notes that they are still having Mass in the parish hall since the church burned down, but there are difficulties with a leaking roof there, especially because termites are eating it. They also rely on our monthly donations for their continued sustenance that pays for teachers at their school, meals for their schoolchildren, and various other charitable activities. I write this email today because next weekend, Nov. 16 & 17, will be the monthly second collection for Haiti that many of you have contributed to. I would like to invite those who have never contributed to this monthly second collection to consider a recurring gift to those who would benefit greatly from your generosity. Every little bit goes a long way in Haiti. The purchasing power of a dollar there is far more than here. So even if you can only give $5 a month, know that it is greatly appreciated by those who would put it to good use in our sister parish. I myself contribute monthly and pledge to continue to do so, and I ask you to consider doing the same. 

I have invited Fr. Dabel to come to visit us, and there is a good possibility that he might come next summer. It just so happens, Fr. Alain’s new parish is twinned with Our Lady of the Lake in Hendersonville, TN, and it might be an occasion for them to travel together. Fr. Dabel concluded saying, in his opinion, while the unrest continues in Port-au-Prince, Cap-Haitien is quiet, and he has indicated that many people have started traveling back to Haiti through this northern city, far from the difficulties. With that in mind, he invited us to consider returning to Haiti at some time in the future. If this strikes the fancy of anyone, feel free to reach out to me or our Haiti ministry leader, Jim Gallagher, as it may be something on our horizon in the future. 

Sincerely in Christ,

Fr. David Carter, Pastor and Rector
The Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul
stspeterandpaulbasilica.com