Ten good reasons why I am not going to the pub to watch any World Cup games played in the US

I have decided not watch any of this year’s World Cup matches played in the US

Patrick Comerford

I have spent much of the day in London, meeting a writer fried from New Zealand, and now I’m on my way back to Milton Keynes, hoping to find an appropriate place in Stony Stratford this evening to join friends and neighbours watching the opening match in this year’s World Cup tournament, when the co-hosts Mexico plan South Africa.

Mexico is one of the three host nations, each staging its own opening ceremony ahead of its first match. Canada follows tomorrow night (Friday 12 June 2026), with its first game against Bosnia-Herzegovina in Toronto. The USA hosts the third and last opening ceremony on Saturday (13 June), before facing Paraguay in Los Angeles.

Scotland’s first match is against Haiti in Foxborough, Massachusetts in the far-too early hours of Sunday (2 am, 14 June), and England has to wait almost a week before playing Croatia in Dallas next Wednesday (17 June, 9 pm).

Doubtless, Trump will try to hijack the events, although his appearance at a major basketball game in New York was meet with Booing throughout the stadium – hopefully setting an example of how to welcome him to any World Cup games.

Today’s opening ceremony is in the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, the first stadium to host matches in three World Cups – it was there Maradona blamed it all on the ‘hand of God’ in 1986 and there Pelé passed to Carlos Alberto in 1970.

The opening ceremony in Canada takes place tomorrow at the BMO Field in Toronto while the opening ceremony for the US tomorrow when the USA and Paraguay play in the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, which also hosts the opening ceremony for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

In addition, two extra ceremonies are planned for 4 July as part of the celebrations marking the 250th anniversary United States during the Last 16 fixtures in Philadelphia and Houston.

I still remember my enthusiasm in my childhood and teenage years for World Cup finals: in 1962, when Brazil beat Czechoslovakia 3-1 in Chile … in 1966, as a schoolboy finding a place in Ballinskelligs, Co Kerry, to watch England win dramatically 4-2 against West Germany in London … in 1970, when Brazil beat Italy 4-1 … And who from Ireland can forget Ireland’s performance in Italia 1990, reaching the quarter final and losing 1-0 to Italy in what every Irish fan still thinks of as a victory for heroes?

But, despite all my enthusiasm, I have decided that I am going to watch televised matches played olny in Mexico and Canada, but I am not going to watch any matches played at venues in the US, even though this means I am going to miss England’s three fixtures in the Group Stage, including the opening game against Croatia in Dallas next Wednesday, and the other games against Ghana in Boston, Panama in New York or New Jersey.

Of course, I never had any notion, ever, of going to the US, or any other World Cup competition for that matter. It has never been my idea of how to spend time or to spend money. But if I was so disposed, I have no doubt I would have been refused a visa. And how could I, in all conscience, feel safe on the streets of any city in the US when even US citizens, never mind foreigners, are not safe from the capricious actions of ICE?

And if, in conscience, I would not be safe and comfortable being in the US for this World Cup, why should I feel comfortable and safe at home, watching it from a distance?

But, while I may continue to watch matches staged in Mexico or Canada, here are ten good (or bad) reasons for not watching any fixtures at venues in the US:

1, Haiti has qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 52 years, and plays against Scotland on late on /early on Sunday Saturday in Boston, in the heart of the exiled Haitian community in Foxborough. The national stadium in Port-au-Prince has been controlled by armed gangs since 2024, so the team played every home qualifier in exile, and clinched a World Cup place with a 2-0 defeat of Nicaragua.

But Trump’s travel ban bars Haitian visitors from entering the US. The players and staff have been given an exemption, but their fans have no such exemption. This can only be put down to racism. During the 2024 election campaign Trump repeated baseless claims that illegal immigrants from Haiti have been eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. During ABC’s presidential debate, he claimed: ‘In Springfield, they are eating the dogs. The people that came in, they are eating the cats. They’re eating – they are eating the pets of the people that live there.’

2, Iran’s supporters are banned too. Iran’s first game is due to be against New Zealand in Los Angeles on Tuesday (16 June), but there are real fears that the team may never get there. Iran has qualified for the FIFA World Cup last March, but after months of war Iran has had to switch basecamps from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana in Mexico. Under the conditions of their visas, they will have to fly in and out of the US on matchday for each of their three group games. It emerged last Saturday that the US had denied visas to members of the team’s backroom staff, with 15 administrative officials denied entry.

Iran’s allocation of fan tickets for the group stage was revoked this week just days before the start of the tournament, and the US has cancelled all tickets that have been sold to Iran’s supporters. Since the US war against Iran began in February, the US military targets have included the Azadi Stadium in Tehran, where the national team trained.

3, Omar Artan, a FIFA-employed referee from Somalia and named as Africa’s best referee last year, was refused entry to the US at Miami International Airport despite having a valid travel visa and was deported to Istanbul.

4, The Iraqi striker Aymen Hussein was held and questioned for almost seven hours at O’Hare airport in Chicago, the team’s official photographer was sent back despite having a valid visa, and team members from Senegal and Uzbekistan were taken aside when they arrived and given full cavity searches.

5, The Swiss midfielder Breel Embolo was denied an entry visa – although Swiss authorities seem to have been successful in appealing against the decision.

6, The South African football team faced a 24-hour delay in their departure over a visa bungle, fans from Senegal and the Ivory Coast face restrictions despite qualifying for the tournament, and 90 per cent of Moroccan fans with tickets have been denied entry.

7, Tickets to the games are costing up to $8,000, wich means these are not fixtures for ordinary football fans. Instead, for whom the ‘beautiful game’ has became an ugly game and a game only for the rich.

8, Fans from 27 of the 48 nations taking part need a US visa, costing between $185 and $435. This represents wages that an average person in many countries in the Global South would take several months to earn. The US has a FIFA Priority Appointment Scheduling System (PASS), supposed to speed up the visa process for fans who have bought tickets through FIFA. But last month, about 150 fans in Ghana had their visa applications rejected.

9, Amnesty International is warning World Cup fans about the dangers involved in travelling to the US. Human Rights Watch has reported how an asylum seeker who attended the Club World Cup final last year in New Jersey with his children was arrested by ICE and deported.

10, FIFA’s president Gianni Infantino had no shame about giving a ‘peace prize’ to Trump, the petulant president who knows how to make demands but not how to keep commitments. When the US was bidding in 2018 to host this World Cup, Donald Trump personally wrote to FIFA promising that ‘all eligible athletes, officials, and fans from all countries around the world would be able to enter the United States without discrimination.’

It all amounts to a complete package of lies, humiliation, discrimination, racism, petty vindictiveness and an apparently planned and co-ordinated effort to humiliate black and Muslim players and team officials. So much for football being the ‘beautiful game’. So much for that FIFA ‘peace prize’ for Trump, who is using this world cup for propagamda in the same way Hitler used the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

These may be small gestures on my part. They may have no impact at all. And I don’t want anyone to interpret them or misrepresent them as anti-American protests. Nor do I want any family members or friends in the US to take offence, to take umbrage. I have had too much of the Trump regime, and I do not want Trump to have one more viewer who adds to his capacity to boast that this year’s World Cup was his World Cup and his success, his triumph.

I have decided not watch any of this year’s World Cup matches played in the US

The Greeks have a word for it: 48, ‘Απόκρυφα, Apocrypha

Ella Baron on the Trump-Harris televised debate (Cartoon © The Guardian)

Patrick Comerford

Donald Trump in his televised debate with Kamala Harris repeated apocryphal stories about Haitian migrants eating cats and dogs in the streets of Springfield, Ohio. But this exaggerated lie seems to have backfired and it has become one of the signature moments of their first – and possibly only – debate during this election campaign.

Halfway through the debate in Philadelphia last Tuesday night, Trump repeated the fable that migrants in Springfield were ‘eating the pets of the people that live there.’

The ABC News moderator David Muir interjected quickly to clarify that the network had contacted the city’s manager, who said that there were no credible reports of pets being harmed by immigrants.

Trump’s lies echoed apocryphal stories circulating worldwide on X (the wretched platform once known as Twitter) and other social media sites that Haitian migrants in Springfield were behind a wave of local crime and to blame for the disappearances of cats and dogs.

In the days immediately before the debate, Trump supporters, including Elon Musk, promoted and reposted these claims, regurgitating lies and conspiracy theories that never survive the light of day off social media.

This particular apocryphal story has become a focus of derision of Trump, and a reminder of everything that is crazy and weird about Trump.

But his claims appeal to the audience he intended: fans on X, who responded by generating memes of cats, dogs and geese pleading with voters to save them by choosing Trump. These unfounded stories about Haitian migrants in Springfield were also repeated ahead of the debate in posts on X by Trump’s running mate, Senator JD Vance.

About 15,000 Haitians have come to Springfield legally in the past several years under temporary protected status as they flee poverty and violence in their home country. But the Governor of Ohio Mike DeWine says, ‘Haitians who are here are hard-working people.’ He told a news conference in Columbus before the debate, ‘They came to Springfield, Ohio, for work, and many, many, many of them are working and filling positions in Springfield.’

It all reminds me of the saying attributed to Mark Twain but that is, in fact, apocryphal, ‘A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.’

But Trump wallows in apocryphal sayings of his own making, such as ‘The beauty of me is that I’m very rich.’ If he ever said that, what he ought to have said is, ‘The truth about me is that I’m a consummate and incurable liar.’

In her handling of Trump’s barbs and lies last week, Kamala Harris must have taken to heart another apocryphal saying ascribed to Mark Twain, ‘Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.’

One story about senior foreign dignitaries visiting England is the apocryphal story about one visitor who exclaimed, ‘I’ve never understood why they built Windsor Castle right under the flightpath for Heathrow. I’d have thought royalty would have wanted somewhere less busy.’

It wasn’t Trump … but it could have been.

He constantly repeats apocryphal stories about nine-month abortions and post-natal infanticide in maternity wards, he fantasises about ‘the late and great Hannibal Lector’, he lies about the size of his crowds, he is abysmally ignorant about solar and wind energy, and he refuses to accept that he lost the last election or to accept responsibility his role in the 6 January riots in Washington.

We normally use the word Apocrypha to label biblical or related writings that are not part of the accepted canon of the Bible, some of which have doubtful authorship or authenticity. The word apocryphal (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings that were to be read privately rather than in the public context of church services. Apocrypha were edifying Christian works that were not always initially included as canonical scripture.

The adjective ‘apocryphal’, meaning of doubtful authenticity, mythical or fictional, has been in use since the late 16th century. It took on the popular meaning of ‘false,’ ‘spurious,’ ‘bad’ or ‘heretical.’ It may be used for any book that might have scriptural claims but which does not appear in the canon accepted by the author.

The word’s origin can be found the mediaeval Latin adjective apocryphus (secret, or non-canonical), from the Greek adjective ἀπόκρυφος, (apokryphos, ‘private’), from the verb ἀποκρύπτειν (apokryptein, ‘to hide away’). It is formed from a combination of ἀπό (apó, ‘from’ or ‘away’) and κρύπτω (krúptō ‘I hide’), and so we have the word apocrypha, ἀπόκρυφα.

The word apocrypha has undergone a major change in meaning throughout the centuries. In its ancient Christian usage, it originally meant a text read in private, rather than in public church settings. Later, the word Apocrypha came to be applied as a name for a set of books often placed in the Bible, between the Old Testament and the New Testament.

The canonicity of many of these books is accepted by the Roman Catholic Church, Orthodox Churches and other Churches in the East, and they are often described as deuterocanonical. Many other traditions reject them completely, but others regard the Apocrypha as non-canonical books with some undefined Biblical standing and that remain useful for instruction.

Origen, in his Commentaries on Matthew, distinguishes between writings that were read by the churches and apocryphal writings: γραφὴ μὴ φερομένη μέν ἒν τοῖς κοινοῖς καὶ δεδημοσιευμένοις βιβλίοις εἰκὸς δ' ὅτι ἒν ἀποκρύφοις φερομένη (‘writing not found in the common and published books on one hand [and] actually found in the secret ones on the other’). The meaning of αποκρυφος here is practically equivalent to ‘excluded from the public use of the church’ and prepares the way for an even less favourable use of the word.

In general use, the word apocrypha came to mean ‘of doubtful authenticity’. This meaning also appears in Origen’s prologue to his commentary on the Song of Songs: ‘Concerning these scriptures, which are called apocryphal, for the reason that many things are found in them corrupt and against the true faith handed down by the elders, it has pleased them that they not be given a place nor be admitted to authority.’

Augustine defined the word as meaning simply ‘obscurity of origin’, implying that any book of unknown authorship or questionable authenticity would be considered apocryphal. Jerome declared that all books outside the Hebrew canon were apocryphal. In practice, Jerome treated some books outside the Hebrew canon as if they were canonical, and the Western Church did not accept Jerome’s definition of apocrypha, instead retaining the word’s prior meaning.

The Council of Trent in 1546 reconfirmed the canon of Augustine, dating to the second and third centuries, declaring ‘He is also to be anathema who does not receive these entire books, with all their parts, as they have been accustomed to be read in the Catholic Church, and are found in the ancient editions of the Latin Vulgate, as sacred and canonical.’ The whole of the books in question, with the exception of I Esdras and II Esdras and the Prayer of Manasseh, were declared canonical at Trent.

Lutherans and Anglicans retained the apocryphal books as Christian intertestamental readings and a part of the Bible (in a section called ‘Apocrypha’), but no doctrine should be based on them.

Article 6 in the 39 Articles in the Church of England declared that ‘the other books the church doth read for example of life and instruction of manners,’ though not to establish doctrine.

It is interesting that liturgically, many weddings in Roman Catholic, Anglican and Methodist churches have a reading from the Book of Tobit. Two traditional Anglican canticles also have sources in the Apocrypha: the canticles Benedicite and Benedictus es, Domine are based on the Song of the Three, a passage in the Book of Daniel that is generally regarded as apocryphal. In the American Prayer Book, one of the offertory sentences in Holy Communion comes from an apocryphal book (Tobit 4: 8-9).

Readings from the Apocrypha are regularly appointed to be read. In all, there are 111 such lessons in the revised American Prayer Book Lectionary, drawing on II Esdras, Tobit, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, Three Holy Children, and I Maccabees.

The apocryphal books accepted as canonical by the Orthodox Church include the Psalms of Solomon, III Maccabees, IV Maccabees, the Epistle of Jeremiah the Book of Odes, the Prayer of Manasseh and Psalm 151.

Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, and Protestants all agree on the canon of the New Testament. The Ethiopian Orthodox have in the past also included I and II Clement and the Shepherd of Hermas in their New Testament canon.

At one time Donald Trump was Biblically illiterate. When he first ran for the Republican nomination, he was unable to name a single Biblical verse. Now he is touting his own branded edition of the Bible.

The God Bless the USA Bible being hawked by Trump for $59.99 uses public domain text from the King James Version. But its 1,350 pages also include some of America’s most sacred documents: the Declaration of Independence; the Pledge of Allegiance; and the lyrics to Lee Greenwood’s ‘God Bless the USA’, a song which is played on repeat at Trump’s political rallies.

It gives a new but blasphemous dimension to Biblical Apocrypha.

Today, the adjective apocryphal is commonly used in modern English to refer to any text or story considered to be of dubious veracity or authority, although it may contain some moral truth. In this broader metaphorical sense, the word suggests a claim that is in the nature of folklore, factoid or urban legend.

Meanwhile, the people of Springfield, Ohio, are going to be remembered for a long time as the apocryphal home of so many lost cats and dogs that have been devoured.

Last word: 47, ‘Αποκάλυψις, Apocalypse

Next word: 49, Ἠλεκτρον (Elektron), electric

Previous words in this series:

1, Neologism, Νεολογισμός.

2, Welcoming the stranger, Φιλοξενία.

3, Bread, Ψωμί.

4, Wine, Οίνος and Κρασί.

5, Yogurt, Γιαούρτι.

6, Orthodoxy, Ορθοδοξία.

7, Sea, Θᾰ́λᾰσσᾰ.

8,Theology, Θεολογία.

9, Icon, Εἰκών.

10, Philosophy, Φιλοσοφία.

11, Chaos, Χάος.

12, Liturgy, Λειτουργία.

13, Greeks, Ἕλληνες or Ρωμαίοι.

14, Mañana, Αύριο.

15, Europe, Εὐρώπη.

16, Architecture, Αρχιτεκτονική.

17, The missing words.

18, Theatre, θέατρον, and Drama, Δρᾶμα.

19, Pharmacy, Φᾰρμᾰκείᾱ.

20, Rhapsody, Ραψῳδός.

21, Holocaust, Ολοκαύτωμα.

22, Hygiene, Υγιεινή.

23, Laconic, Λακωνικός.

24, Telephone, Τηλέφωνο.

25, Asthma, Ασθμα.

26, Synagogue, Συναγωγή.

27, Diaspora, Διασπορά.

28, School, Σχολείο.

29, Muse, Μούσα.

30, Monastery, Μοναστήρι.

31, Olympian, Ολύμπιος.

32, Hypocrite, Υποκριτής.

33, Genocide, Γενοκτονία.

34, Cinema, Κινημα.

35, autopsy and biopsy

36, Exodus, ἔξοδος

37, Bishop, ἐπίσκοπος

38, Socratic, Σωκρατικὸς

39, Odyssey, Ὀδύσσεια

40, Practice, πρᾶξις

41, Idiotic, Ιδιωτικός

42, Pentecost, Πεντηκοστή

43, Apostrophe, ἀποστροφή

44, catastrophe, καταστροφή

45, democracy, δημοκρατία

46, ‘Αρχή, beginning, Τέλος, end

47, ‘Αποκάλυψις, Apocalypse

48, ‘Απόκρυφα, Apocrypha

49, Ἠλεκτρον (Elektron), electric

50, Metamorphosis, Μεταμόρφωσις

51, Bimah, βῆμα

52, ἰχθύς (ichthýs) and ψάρι (psari), fish.

53, Τὰ Βιβλία (Ta Biblia), The Bible

54, Φῐλοξενῐ́ᾱ (Philoxenia), true hospitality

55, εκκλησία (ekklesia), the Church

56, ναός (naos) and ἱερός (ieros), a church

57, series to be continued.

Sunday intercessions on 22 August 2021, Trinity XII

Pray for the People of Afghanistan … a recent work by the Afghan artist Shamsia Hassani

Let us pray:

‘May all the peoples of the earth know your name and fear you’ (I Kings 8: 43)

Heavenly Father,
we pray for the nations of the world,
and for all who live in fear and hunger for mercy, peace and justice.

A prayer for the people of Afghanistan:

For those who are fleeing: sanctuary
For those who are staying: safety
For those who fighting: peace
For those whose hearts are breaking: comfort
For those who see no future: hope.

We pray too for the people of Haiti, Greece and Turkey.
We pray for Ireland, north and south …

Lord have mercy,
Lord have mercy.

‘Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life’ (John 6: 68):

Lord Jesus Christ,
we pray for the Church,
that we may be faithful in the ministry of word and sacrament,
and in response to the spiritual and physical hunger of the world.

We pray for our Bishop, Kenneth, as he prepares to retire,
we pray for our neighbouring churches and parishes,
and people of faith everywhere,
that we may be blessed in our variety and diversity.

In the Anglican Cycle of Prayer,
we pray this week for the Anglican Church of South America,
in six dioceses in Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay,
and the Primate, Archbishop Gregory Venables, Bishop of Argentina.

In the Church of Ireland this month,
we pray for the Diocese of Dublin and Glendalough
and Archbishop Michael Jackson.

In the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer,
we pray for the Church of Ireland Theological Institute
and all who preparing for ordination.

In our community, we give thanks
for all who work on farms, in schools, in business and industry …
and we give special thanks this morning
for all in sports who give us fun and joy
and a sense of belonging …

We pray too for our own parishes and people …
and we pray for ourselves …

Christ have mercy,
Christ have mercy.

‘One day in your courts is better than a thousand’ (Psalm 84: 9):

Holy Spirit, we pray for one another …

We pray for those we love and those who love us …
we pray for our families, friends and neighbours …
we pray for all on holidays …
and we pray for those we promised to pray for …

We prayer for those preparing for baptism,
and for ordination:

We pray for families where children, partners and those who are vulnerable
suffer violence, abuse or neglect …

We pray for those who feel rejected and discouraged …
we pray for all in need and those who seek healing …

We pray for all who are sick or isolated,
at home, in hospital …

Ruby … Ann … Daphne … Sylvia …
Ajay … Adam … Pat … Trixie …

We pray for all who grieve and mourn at this time …
for all who are broken-hearted,
We remember and give thanks for those who have died …
Gill Killick … Arthur Gilliard …
Yvonne Blennerhassett … Beth Mayes … Stephen …
Myles ‘Miley’ Harty, his fiancée and his family in Askeaton …
May their memories be a blessing …

Lord have mercy,
Lord have mercy.

The Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) in its Prayer Diary this morning, the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity, invites us to pray:

Welcoming God,
You make our hearts sing for joy.
May we be doorkeepers in the house of God,
Embracing all who enter.
Let us praise and worship You.

Merciful Father …

Focus on Haiti

The ruins of Holy Trinity Cathedral … with a glimpse of one of the lost murals

Patrick Comerford
looks at the
disaster facing
the Episcopal
Church in
Haiti and
the hopes
it has
for Easter

The death toll in Haiti continues to rise and could pass 230,000. The Church of Ireland responded rapidly through the Bishops’ Appeal Fund, additional street collections by the two “Black Santas” of the Church of Ireland – in Belfast and the Dublin – and special collections in parishes and dioceses,

However, in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, media reports of Church activity in Haiti were dominated by the news of American Baptists who were accused of child-kidnapping, and the comments of the tele-evangelist, Pat Robertson, who told his viewers that Haitians need to have a “great turning to God.”

Robertson claimed the earthquake had hit the country because Haiti has been “cursed by one thing after another” since Haitians “swore a pact to the devil … ever since they have been cursed by one thing after another,” Robertson said.

The victims of the earthquake included the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Port au Prince, Archbishop Joseph Serge Miot. But little attention has been paid to the role of the Churches in helping Haitians cope with the disaster, or to the strong presence of Churches in Haiti.

Strong Anglican presence

About 80 per cent of Haiti’s population is Roman Catholic, but the Anglican or Episcopalian presence is impressive and influential. Episcopalians in Haiti include 100,000 to 150,000 members in 168 congregations, missions and preaching stations. There are 37 active clergy, most of them serving multiple congregations in urban and rural areas.

Although there are 110 dioceses in The Episcopal Church (TEC), the Diocese of Haiti has the largest membership, far surpassing even the Diocese of Texas, with about 80,000 members. Until the earthquake in January, the challenges facing the diocese included the shortage of clergy and the need for better management practices.

The Diocese of Haiti, or Eglise Episcopale d’Haiti, is one of the 12 overseas dioceses of TEC, and a diocese in Province II of TEC. The Presiding Bishop of TEC, Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, recently conceded that while the Diocese of Haiti is the most populous diocese in TEC, few Episcopalians were aware of it until the earthquake. Asked how many members of her church know about the Diocese of Haiti and its large number of Episcopalians, she said: “Actually, too few.”

Haiti’s government estimates the death toll is about 230,000 people, and Haitians are still struggling to meet basic needs, while caring for or mourning loved ones pulled from the rubble. Rebuilding the country – and the diocese – is likely take a decade or longer, according to Bishop Jefferts Schori, who paid a pastoral visit to Haiti recently. Not one diocesan building in the capital, Port-au-Prince, is usable. The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity and the bishop’s residence were destroyed, although Bishop Jean Zaché Duracin survived.

Mission and service

Until the earthquake, the diocese was running primary schools, and many missions had medical facilities. The ministry of the Diocese of Haiti included:

● 254 schools with more than 80,000 pupils and students from pre-school to university level, including a school for children with disabilities, a trade school, a music school, a two-year business school, a nursing school, a seminary and a university;

● medical clinics including Hôpital Sainte Croix in Léogâne, which was at the epicentre of the earthquake;

● a philharmonic orchestra and children’s choir based at the cathedral;

● agricultural, reforestation and development projects and micro-financing efforts;

● peace and reconciliation work, including the Desmond Tutu Centre for Reconciliation and Peace and non-violence training.



In Port-au-Prince, the clergy of Holy Trinity Cathedral ran a programme that included an active parish council, choirs, scouts and associations for young people, men, women and children.

Three members of the community of Anglican nuns, the Sisters of Saint Margaret, were missing in Port-au-Prince after the earthquake. They were living in a convent on the grounds of the Holy Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, and were running a home for elderly people, working among poor people throughout the diocese, and were involved in training seminarians and in pastoral work.

Haitian art in the cathedral

Holy Trinity Cathedral in Port-au-Prince, which has been destroyed totally, was built in the 1920s. It was a simple, unimposing, grey stone structure, but inside it was breath-taking.

The murals in the apse and transepts were painted in the early 1950s under the direction of DeWitt Peters and Selden Rodman of Centre d’Art, Port-au-Prince. The murals depicted Biblical and church stories from the perspective of Haitian artists.

The Wedding at Cana … a mural from Holy Trinity Cathedral, Haiti

The cultural importance of these paintings – in the classic Haitian “primitive” style – was recognised when the cathedral was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The school and the diocese also played taken an important role in preserving and developing Haiti’s artistic heritage. A museum, across the street from the school, housed a permanent collection of Haitian art. Now that unique artistic heritage appears to have been lost for ever.

Poverty and violence

Haiti is the poorest and least-developed country in the western hemisphere. More than half of its people were living on less than $1 a day, and 80% were living on less than $2 per day. One-third of the children are malnourished and 500,000 cannot go to school. Haiti has suffered under brutal regimes, been destabilised by endemic violence, robbed by corrupt politicians, neglected by the world, and has been beaten regularly by tornadoes and hurricanes.

“Water is a luxury rather than a basic necessity,” he said.

Bishop Duracin recently described the epidemic of murders and kidnappings in Haiti and how the “population is terrorised by armed gangs.” The Episcopal Church in Haiti has been victimised, with priests being shot, their vehicles stolen and becoming the victims of crimes.

With one per cent of the population controlling half of the nation’s wealth, he said Haiti and its eight million people needed political stability, forgiveness of its external debt and massive investment in its infrastructure, along with a “massive redistribution of wealth and services.”

Early mission origins

The Diocese of Haiti was planning to mark its 150th anniversary next year. It began as a mission church in 1861 and was founded by the Revd James Theodore Holly, one of the first black priests in the Episcopal Church.

Bishop Holly was the descendent of freed slaves and Irish immigrants – his great-grandfather, James Theodore Holly, married the daughter of an Irish Roman Catholic called Butler. The future bishop was baptised and raised a Roman Catholic but left the Church of his birth in a dispute about ordaining local black clergy and joined the Episcopal Church in 1852. He was ordained at 27, became the Rector of Saint Luke’s in New Haven, Connecticut, and in 1856 was one of the founders of a pressure group challenging the Church to take a stand against slavery.

In 1861, he left New Haven with his family and 101 black emigrants to settle in Haiti – the world’s first black republic – and to establish an Episcopal mission. Despite personal and family tragedies, he established schools, built churches, trained young priests and started congregations and rural medical programmes.

Holy Trinity Parish in Port-au-Prince was established on Pentecost Day, 25 May 1863, the first Diocesan Synod met in 1864, and what was known at first as the Haitian Apostolic Orthodox Church was recognised as a member of the Anglican Communion in 1870.

The Diocese of Haiti formally joined the Episcopal Church in 1875. A year earlier, Holly was consecrated bishop in Grace Church, New York, and attended later Lambeth Conferences. He died in Haiti 100 years ago on 13 March 1911. In 1913, the General Convention of the Episcopal Church accepted the Church in Haiti as a Missionary District.

A diocese responds

After the quake, Bishop Duracin and the Diocese of Haiti immediately set up a camp in Port-au-Prince “the size of a football field” where destitute and injured people could find refuge.

The Diocesan Development Office had already trained a network of 28 community development workers for disaster management, and they carried out initial needs assessments for their own communities.

Two weeks after the quake, the diocese and Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) were helping over 25,000 survivors in 23 camps, ranging in size from a few hundred people to around 8,000. In addition, sanitation and clean water facilities were built for many of the camps.

Bishop Jean Zaché Duracin … “looking forward to a celebration of Easter”

“We are desperate but strong in faith,” Bishop Duracin said after the earthquake, which has become known as “La Catastrophe.” He said the course of history has changed for Haiti.

“I look at this as a baptism,” he said in a reflection written for the first Sunday of Lent. Bishop Duracin also spoke of the need for faith, prayer and renewal in the midst of devastation.

“There is not a single family that did not lose a close friend or member: Mothers, fathers, siblings, in some cases entire families disappeared,” he said. “As for resources, we have next to nothing. The wreckage is beyond imagination. However, this situation delivers us into faith. I look at this as a baptism. We who are still alive have had the blessing of survival, but in many ways we have died to the ways of the past. We have the opportunity to rise up and start anew. In this moment of grief and mourning, life must continue.”

“That we were struck by this tragedy does not mean God is not with us. He is here. We must always remember that God lives in this world. There is pain, but there is also joy. He gives us assurance not of the life that ends, but the life that is eternal.”

And, he said the, Church in his diocese is “looking forward to a celebration of Easter.”

Canon Patrick Comerford is Director of Spiritual Formation at the Church of Ireland Theological Institute. Dublin.

This essay was first published as a centre-page feature (pages 8-9) in the Church of Ireland Gazette on 5 March 2010.

Love must be dynamic, it can never be static

The Wedding at Cana ... a modern icon

Patrick Comerford

Sunday 17 January 2010: The Second Sunday after the Epiphany

11.45 p.m.: The Eucharist, the Church of Ireland Theological Institute

Isaiah 62: 1-5; Psalm 36: 5-10; I Corinthians 12: 1-11; John 2: 1-11

May I speak to you in the name of God, + Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

We are still in the Season of Epiphany. In some places there may still be some snow on the ground, but the trees, the cards and the decorations are down for some time now.

In some parishes, there is a tradition of keeping the crib in the Church until Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation, which often marks the end of the Epiphany season.

Three Gospel stories in particular are associated with Epiphany.

The first, and the most popular must be the story of the wise men bringing their three gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the Christ Child. With these gifts, they acknowledge Christ as three-fold prophet, priest and king.

In the diversity they have acquired in popular culture as the three kings they also symbolise the nations acknowledging Christ as the King and Saviour of the World, and not just fulfilling promises for one people alone.

Some of these concepts – such as the kings of the world acknowledging Christ’s glory – are reflected in this morning’s reading from the Prophet Isaiah, alongside Isaiah’s wedding image, which is at the heart of our Gospel reading – but let me come to that in a moment in or two.

The second Epiphany-time story is the Baptism of Christ by John in the Jordan. Having been acknowledged by the nations as priest, prophet and king, Christ is now recognised publicly for who he is by God the Father and the Holy Spirit in that Trinitarian moment at the waters.

And again, those waters of promise, those waters of life, ripple though our Psalm for this morning.

The Wedding Feast of Cana in a mural in the Episcopal Cathedral of the Holy Ttinity, Port-au-Prince, which was destroyed in the earthquake in Haiti last week

The third popular Epiphany story is the Wedding Feast of Cana. In this Epiphany moment, Jesus – who has been recognised by the nations, and by God, by heaven and by earth – is now recognised for who is by his own family, by his disciples and by his own people.

He is Lord and Saviour now, according to heaven and earth, and is seen as such by those who dwell in heaven and on earth.

Clifford Longley, the former Religious Affairs Correspondent of The Times (London), is now a columnist in The Tablet. Last weekend, the headline on his column read: “I’m not alone in finding the Church’s reliance on miracles strains credibility.”

Of course, he was talking not about Gospel stories, but about the Vatican’s reliance on miracle claims in the process of deciding who to recognise or not recognise as a saint. But sometimes it takes a miracle for us to face up to reality. And, whatever a person’s individual opinion may be about miracles, I think most people find the story of the Wedding at Cana a captivating one.

I think we have all been to weddings. We all enjoy weddings – not just the sacred part in the church, when the wedding vows are exchanged, but all the secular parts of a wedding too: the romance, the dressing up, reconnecting with old friends and making new friends, the food, the drink, the dancing, the dash of perhaps being in another place, even a strange place – and, for those who are single, the folk-promise that going to a wedding can be the making of another.

Weddings are also the promise of miracle: for there is nothing more miraculous than life and love.

If you can’t believe in water turning into wine, then you have to be filled with wonder and awe at how life is created time and time again, every day, across the years, across the centuries and the ages. And you have to wonder at the miracle of love, how people go on accepting each other unconditionally, to the point that the circumstances are created for life itself to be created.

It is the miracle of life and love that God asks us, invites us, creates us, to be his partners in creation.

And – while most people, when they read our Gospel story for this morning, think first about the story of water turned into wine – there is another miracle in this story too that reflects that miracle of life and love, relationships and creation.

The wedding takes place “on the third day” – so we are already invited as readers to expect new life and new promise.

The wedding – like weddings I’ve enjoyed in Greece – probably lasted for three days, which emphasises that sense of anticipation and promise. And, you may not have noticed this, the job title for the chief steward or toast master is ἀρχιτρίκλινος (architríklinos) – the master of the three couches, the three resting places: do you see how our expectations are being heightened?

The Wedding at Cana ... another modern icon

After at least three days in Cana everyone heads home a different person. Everyone has been transformed. Verse 12, the verse immediately after this reading, says:

“After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother, his brothers, and his disciples; and they remained there a few days.”

Everyone goes home a new person, a person he or she had not been before those wedding vows were exchanged.

One woman heads off with her husband as a new wife. But she is also as a new sister-in-law, a new daughter-in-law, perhaps even a new step-mother. Another woman goes home as a new mother-in-law, and so on.

Among the men there is a new husband, but also a new son-in-law, a new father-in-law, someone who had never before been a brother-in-law … and so on.

And those relationships are dynamic; they are not static. The new sister-in-law is about to become a new aunt, the new brother-in-law an uncle, the new mother-in-law and father-in-law hope to become grandparents for the first time.

And so a wedding never ends when the guests go home. As dynamic relationships they demand and create action and response.

And the relationships never end even when the marriage ends. Even if the couple who were married at Cana were divorced many years later, their parents-in-law remained grandparents to any of the children born to the man and woman.

A man and woman can divorce each other, but they can’t divorce their children from their uncles, aunts, cousins and grandparents.

And when relationships are good, when they are dynamic rather than static, when they are blessed and loving, when there is unconditional acceptance, then they become a reflection of, a sacrament of, God’s love for us.

To be healthy, emotional individuals, we need a variety of healthy and wholesome relationships.

Not everyone has a happy, lasting, exclusive and intimate loving relationship with one other person. But we are certainly healthier and holier people when the relationships we have are healthy, wholesome and loving.

When I have been a good son or father, a good brother or husband, a good nephew, uncle or cousin, and – of course – when I have been a good friend too, then I hope I have reflected God’s love for those who glimpse it, God’s love for them in relationship, God’s dynamic love for them expressed by the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

And when I have failed in those relationships – as a father, as a brother, as a husband, as a nephew, as an uncle, as a cousin, as a friend – then it is not God who has failed, but I who have fallen short of others being able to have a glimpse, to grasp, God’s love for them and for us, a dynamic love that is always truly about relationship.

For God not only loves us, but God also wants us to enjoy that love, to return that love, and to love one another. As Saint John the Divine tells the Church in Ephesus: “Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another … if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us” (I John 4: 11-12).

And love respects difference and variety, sees them as gifts rather than challenges or confrontations.

If Christ loves the Church as his bride, then our diversity and variety in gifts in ministry and service are gifts that we bring to the royal wedding.

If weddings idealise love, they also give a real and creative expression to the love of God. The wedding image so lovingly called on by Christ in his teaching, is a much-loved one in the Hebrew Scriptures.

Exchanging the στέφανα or wedding crowns as the Gospel story of the Wedding at Cana is read

At those three-day Greek weddings I referred to, the real moment when the two pledge their troth is not when they exchange rings or bands – that takes place at the betrothal – but when the priest exchanges the wedding crowns, the στέφανα (stephana), on the heads of the bride and groom as this morning’s Gospel story is read.

This ancient custom finds a resonance in our reading from the Prophet Isaiah, for to this day the στέφανα of the bride and groom are crowns of beauty and royal diadems.

The image Christ draws on of the royal wedding that seals our covenant with God, when Christ is the true bridegroom and the Church is the bride, is no marriage of convenience, it is a real marriage of true love, as our portion of Psalm 36 tells us this morning.

And at the feast God promises abundance – an abundance to drink in terms of our physical needs, an abundance of justice in terms of our social needs, an abundance of faithfulness in terms of our spiritual needs.

We are invited to the banquet this morning as we once were and commissioned to leave as new people, in new relationships, overflowing beyond the brim with the love of God, expressed in the bread and wine, with hope for the future and the promises of the heavenly banquet.

Rejoice in your variety of gifts in ministry and service. Delight in the new relationships God constantly offers us. Transform all your relationships from being static to being dynamic. Move on from the sentimentality of Christmas to the new promises and hope of Easter. And celebrate the banquet frequently and often with joy, for Christ is for each of us the living bread and the true vine.

And so may all our thoughts, words and deeds be the glory of God, + Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

Canon Patrick Comerford is Director of Spiritual Formation, the Church of Ireland Theological Institute and a canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. This sermon was preached at the Eucharist in the institute chapel on Sunday 17 January 2010 at the end of a residential weekend for NSM and part-time MTh students.

Earthquake destroys cathedral and unique artistic legacy

The remains of the Episcopal Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Port-au-Prince (Photograph: Philipe Qualo/Mark Harris/Preludium)

Patrick Comerford

The death toll in Haiti continues to rise and could pass 200,000. This morning, at the Sung Eucharist in the chapel of the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, prayers are being said for the people of Haiti ands the collection is going to the Church of Ireland Bishops’ Appeal Fund, which has launched a special appeal for Haiti.

Over the last two days, I have heard that the Episcopal or Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Port-au-Prince and the bishop’s residence have been destroyed by the earthquake. Reports say Bishop Zache Duracin has survived, but the Roman Catholic archbishop has been killed.

The Episcopal Diocese of Haiti is the largest diocese in The Episcopal Church (TEC). There are 180,000 communicants in 98 congregations scattered throughout Haiti, but with only 30 priests. Until last week, most of these missions included primary schools, and many had medical facilities. And, until last week, the five cathedral clergy, under the leadership of Bishop Zache, ran a varied programme of activities, including an active parish council; associations for young people, men, women, and children; choirs; and scouts.

The Convent of the Sisters of Saint Margaret stood in the cathedral grounds. Since 1927, the sisters have helped in the church’s work with women and children. Their work has included Holy Trinity School, Saint Vincent’s School for Handicapped Children, Foyer Nòtre Dame for elderly women, and rural work at Maison Saint Paul, Matthieu.

Holy Trinity School, beside the cathedral, was originally founded as a school for girls in 1913. Until last week, there are 1,200 boys and girls at the school. There was also a trade school with 800 students and a music school. The school music programme, which began in 1970, included a philharmonic orchestra and a boys’ choir, with frequent concerts in Salle Sainte Cecile at the school.

Saint Vincent’s School for Handicapped Children, started in 1945, was caring for 1,500 children a month in the school section and in the specialised medical, orthopaedic and neurological clinics. There were surgical facilities one day a week. Music, art, and literature were included along with the academic curriculum. There were boarding places for 200 children.

College Saint Pierre, the church’s secondary school in Port-au-Prince, stood at the south-east corner of the Champs-de-Mars. It opened in 1957 and had 700 students until last week.

The Episcopal Church also ran Holy Cross Hospital in Leogane, which had assumed responsibility for all health care in its region through a network of village health workers, midwives, and mobile clinics. But Leogane was at the epicentre of the earthquake last week.

And so, you can see, the mission of preaching the Good News about Christ and showing God’s love through service to the Haitian was at the heart of the work of the Diocese of Haiti.

Haitian art

Holy Trinity Cathedral before the earthquake (Photograph: Caminante)

Holy Trinity Cathedral was a grey stone structure, simple and unimposing. But inside the church was breath-taking and deeply spiritual. The cathedral was built in the 1920s. The cornerstone was laid in November 1924, and the cathedral was dedicated in January, 1929.

The High Altar and apse murals in Holy Trinity Cathedral, which had been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site

The murals in the cathedral were painted under the direction of DeWitt Peters and Selden Rodman of Centre d’Art, Port-au-Prince. The murals in the apse were finished in March 1950. The murals in the transepts were completed in April 1951. The Rieger organ, the gift of an American donor, was installed in 1961. They were painted by Haitian artists in the 1950s to depict Biblical and church stories from the perspective of Haitian artists.

The ruins of Holy Trinity Cathedral … with a glimpse of one of the lost murals

These paintings in the classic Haitian “primitive” style made the cathedral a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The school and the diocese have taken an important role in preserving and developing Haiti’s artistic heritage. A museum, across the street from the school, housed a permanent collection of Haitian art. Now that unique artistic heritage appears to have been lost for ever.

The Wedding at Cana … a mural from Holy Trinity Cathedral, Haiti

Missing sisters

Meanwhile, Anglican nuns in Boston are waiting anxiously for news about three of their nuns who were living in of Port-au-Prince.

“We have three sisters in Haiti and we have been trying all night to get through … We hope and pray that they're safe. One fears for the worst. However, we’re just going to have to wait it out,” Sister Adele Marie Ryan, assistant superior of the Sisters of Saint Margaret, said ate last week.

Sister Marie Margaret Fenelon, Sister Marjorie Raphael Wysong and Sister Marie Therese Milien were living in a convent on the grounds of the Holy Trinity Episcopal Cathedral. The sisters have been running a home for elderly people and worked among poor people throughout the Diocese of Haiti. They were also involved in training seminarians and in pastoral work at two schools the order founded, the Saint Vincent School for the Handicapped and the Holy Trinity School, which are in the same neighbourhood.

Les Soeurs de Ste Marguerite at Holy Trinity Cathedral at work before the earthquake

The Church of Ireland Bishops’ Appeal, the Church’s World Aid and Development Programme, is donating an initial €20,000 towards the emergency relief effort. The funds will be sent through Christian Aid, which has partners working in Haiti.

For some information on Haiti and also Christian Aid’s work in Haiti: http://www.christianaid.ie/whatwedo/the-americas/haiti.aspx Or you can visit the Haiti Earthquake Appeal site to donate directly, or donate directly to the work in Haiti of Episcopal Relief and Development through go to their website. The instructions are easy to follow and the links are easy.

Do keep everyone in Haiti in your prayers.

A Prayer for Haiti (from the Christian Aid website):

Loving God of creation,
at this time of devastation
we hold before you the people of Haiti.

When the damage is unimaginable,
and the suffering seems overwhelming,
remind us that every person affected
is loved, honoured and precious in your sight.

We remember all those who have been hurt;
all who have lost their homes, livelihoods and loved ones.

Work through us to bring healing
to broken and distorted lives,
peace to those who have been thrown into despair,
light to those in darkness,
and hope to those who fear.

We ask this in the name of Jesus
in whom all life and grace is found. Amen.

Canon Patrick Comerford is Director of Spiritual Formation, the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, and a canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin.

How to help the victims of the earthquake in Haiti

Patrick Comerford

The students on the NSM course and the part-time MTh students return to the Church of Ireland Theological Institute this weekend.

The weekend ends on Sunday [17 January] with our Sung Eucharist at 11.45 a.m., which will include special prayers for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti and the collection will go to support the Bishops’ Appeal Fund and any projects in Haiti it decides to support.

The need is immediate and urgent. The death toll from the catastrophe may soon climb above 100,000. But there are million of living survivors who also need our compassion, our prayers and our immediate response in financial terms.

Church of Ireland response

Archbishop Alan Harper of Armagh issued a statement today [14 January] saying the tragedy of the devastating earthquake in Haiti on top of the wreckage caused by hurricanes in 2008 “has left what is already the poorest community in the Western world even more traumatised and impoverished. My heart goes out to the survivors, both those suffering injuries and the bereaved. I pray for the success of the international response to the disaster and I encourage all those who feel able to do so to contribute financially to assist the people of Haiti at this terrible time.”

The Church of Ireland Bishops’ Appeal, the Church’s World Aid and Development Programme, is donating an initial €20,000 towards the emergency relief effort. The funds will be sent through Christian Aid, which has partners working in Haiti.

Archbishop Harper and Archbishop John Neill of Dublin appealed for further donations for relief and have suggested that collections should be held in churches as soon as possible and sent through the Bishops’ Appeal.

You can donate in Euro or sterling or send contributions to:

Haiti Appeal,
The Church of Ireland Bishops’ Appeal,
Church of Ireland House,
Church Avenue,
Rathmines,
Dublin 6.

The two “Black Santas” of the Church of Ireland, the Dean of Saint Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast, and the Vicar of Saint Ann’s in Dawson Street, Dublin, are also helping people to make contributions towards agencies working in Haiti.

A statement issued on behalf of the two archbishops and Bishop Michael Burrows of Cashel and Ossory, who is Chair of the Bishops’ Appeal Committee, appealed for collections in churches throughout the Church of Ireland in the coming days and weeks and for prayers for the injured and bereaved, for the safety of those attempting to render assistance and for the rebuilding of community life in Haiti.

Christian Aid appeal

Christian Aid has also launched an appeal for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. Christian Aid is an agency of the Irish Churches working in partnership with the Churches in Haiti.

Christian Aid’s country programme manager in Haiti, Prospery Raymond, and the programme officer, Abdonnel Doudou, had to be rescued following the collapse of the Christian Aid offices in Port-au-Prince. Prospery Raymond estimates that in the area of the city where Christian Aid had its offices, 97 per cent of the housing has collapsed. The Christian Aid office was one of the stronger buildings in the area.It is still too early to know the full extent of the damage, but reports show a very high loss of life, widespread destruction of homes, schools and other buildings, and major damage to key water, electricity and road systems.

Prospery Raymond is also concerned that there may not be enough food in Haiti to last longer than the next three to four days.

Can you support Christian Aid’s Haiti Earthquake Appeal by holding a collection in your church on Sunday?

Your efforts will provide relief and reconstruction on the ground. Christian Aid has already released nearly €100,000 and will send more as soon as it can.

Peter Byrne of Christian Aid assures everyone that Christian Aid’s partners in Haiti are “very experienced in emergency response work, and have already begun emergency relief activities in the affected areas.”

“The need is massive,” says Peter. “People urgently need food, water, blankets, shelter and medical supplies.”

The following points might help you respond and act:

● €8 could buy a tarpaulin to provide shelter
● €15 could buy baby kits including baby food for two weeks
● €20 could buy a food stamp, which will provide canned food, flour, rice, sugar and cooking oil for two weeks for a family of four.

A Prayer for Haiti

On Sunday morning, we plan to use this prayer for Haiti as part of the intercessions at our Sung Eucharist:

Loving God of creation,
at this time of devastation we hold before you the people of Haiti.

When the damage is unimaginable,
and the suffering seems overwhelming,
remind us that every person affected is loved, honoured and precious in your sight.

We remember all those who have been hurt;
all who have lost their homes, livelihoods and loved ones.

Work through us
to bring healing to broken and distorted lives,
peace to those who have been thrown into despair,
light to those in darkness,
and hope to those who fear.

We ask this in the name of Jesus
in whom all life and grace is found.

You are welcome to join us on Sunday morning in the chapel of the Church of Ireland Theological Institute for the Eucharist at 11.45 a.m. Or you might like to use the poster in this posting to display in your church on Sunday or in your workplace.

For some information on Haiti and also Christian Aid’s work in Haiti:
http://www.christianaid.ie/whatwedo/the-americas/haiti.aspx

Or you can visit the Haiti Earthquake Appeal site to donate directly.

Canon Patrick Comerford is Director of Spiritual Formation, the Church of Ireland Theological Institute and a canon of Christ Church Cathedral Dublin

The Episcopal Church in Haiti: coping with tragedy and violence

The Presiding Bishop of TEC, Bishop Katherine Jefforts Schori, visiting Haiti in 2008

Patrick Comerford

The news from Haiti today is distressing and deeply saddening. This is on e of the poorest countries in the world and it is a country that has suffered under brutal regimes, destabilised by endemic violence, been robbed by corrupt politicians, been neglected by the world, and that is beaten regularly by tornadoes and hurricanes.

Tens if not hundreds of thousands of people may have been killed, and the death toll really shows that death is the leveller, for among those who are dead are senior politicians, the UN representative in Haiti, and the Roman Catholic Archbishop.

The news came as I was preparing next Sunday’s liturgy and sermon, based on the story of the Wedding Feast of Cana. In my search for images I came across a mural of the Wedding at Cana (left) from the Episcopal Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti.

The Diocese of Haiti is one of the 12 overseas dioceses of The Episcopal Church (TEC) and a diocese in Province II of The Episcopal Church (TEC). The Episcopal or Anglican Bishop of Haiti is the Right Revd Jean Zache Duracin. But the Episcopal Church of Haiti is also the largest diocese in TEC.

The Episcopal Diocese of Haiti, or Eglise Episcopale d’Haiti covers the whole country, and Holy Trinity Cathedral is in central Port au Prince. The Diocese of Haiti has nearly 180,000 parishioners in about 100 congregations, missions, and preaching stations, but has less than 30 priests currently serving the diocese.

The US agency, Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD), has worked in partnership with the Diocese of Haiti, but the Church faces many challenges, including a lack of clergy and the need for better management practices. The Diocese of Haiti has companion links with eight TEC dioceses: Colorado, East Tennessee, Lexington, Maine, Milwaukee, Quincy, South Carolina and Upper South Carolina,

Ms Jeannie Randall, who recently jut returned to the US from Haiti after working with a medical mission from Saint Thomas Episcopal Church in Huntsville. She said yesterday she hoped the devastation caused by the earthquake will finally direct resources to a country that has struggled too long.

“Ultimately because of this disaster they may come out better because the world's attention will be drawn to them, and obviously all nations will have to band together to provide the funds,” she said.

A church in the midst of violence

The Episcopal Church in Haiti runs 100 primary schools, 15 secondary schools and a school for disabled students, as well as vocational and agricultural training efforts, a university and a seminary.

During a visit to the US three years ago, Bishop Jean Zache Duracin described the epidemic of murders and kidnappings that Haitians have endured, and how the “population is terrorised by armed gangs,” with much of the capital of Port au-Prince under the control of armed gangs.

In the midst of this recurring and worsening violence, Bishop Duracin said, there has been no socio-economic progress in Haiti and there is “endemic” weakness in the national infrastructure. The per capita income is $440 and unemployment runs at 80 per cent. More than 55 per cent of the population is illiterate, 42 per cent of children younger than five are malnourished, and there is only one doctor for every 10,000 people, according to Bishop Duracin.

Haiti does not have enough schools, but the bishop said, but he said his Church tries to fill that gap, with some of the best schools in the country.

“Water is a luxury rather than a basic necessity,” he said, adding that much of the disease in the country is water-borne.

With one per cent of the population controlling half of the nation’s wealth, he said Haiti and its eight million people needed political stability, forgiveness of its external debt and massive investment in its infrastructure and in job creation, along with a “massive redistribution of wealth and services.”

For the past five or six years, the Episcopal Church in Haiti has been victimised, with priests being shot, their vehicles stolen and becoming the victims of crimes. One priest’s life was spared only because his assailant ran out of bullets.

But the diocese has continued its work ecumenically. The new Desmond Tutu Centre for Reconciliation and Peace has been a place where different traditions and denominations can gather “to see if the churches together can do something to make peace among the populations of Haiti,” the bishop said.

Early origins

The Diocese of Haiti was founded in 1861 when the Revd James Theodore Holly, one of the first African-American priests in the Episcopal Church – he was ordained in 1856 at age 27 – left New Haven, Connecticut, for Haiti with 100 emigrants.

Bishop Holly, who was born in 1829 in Washington, DC, was the descendent of freed slaves and Irish immigrants. His great-grandfather, James Theodore Holly, married the daughter of an Irish Catholic called Butler. As a child, the future Bishop Holly was baptised and raised a Roman Catholic but gradually he moved away from the Catholic Church. He left the Roman Catholic Church over a dispute about ordaining local black clergy and joined the Episcopal Church in 1852.

He was ordained at the age of 27, was the Rector of Saint Luke’s Church, New Haven, Connecticut and was one of the founders of the Protestant Episcopal Society for Promoting the Extension of the Church Among Coloured People (a forerunner of UBE) in 1856. This group challenged the Church to take a position against slavery at the General Convention.

In 1861 he left the US with his family and 101 black emigrants to settle in Haiti – the world’s first black republic – to establish an Episcopal mission. In July 1863, Holly organised Holy Trinity Church in Port-au-Prince, and despite personal, family tragedies he successfully established schools, built churches, trained young priests and started congregations and rural medical programmes.

The original mission prospered to the point where a resident bishop was needed. On 8 November 1874, he was consecrated a bishop in Grace Church, New York, not by the mainstream Episcopal Church, which refused to ordain a black missionary bishop, but by the American Church Missionary Society, an Evangelical Episcopal branch of the Church, and was named Bishop of the Anglican Orthodox Episcopal Church of Haiti.

The two major components of Holly’s vision were that the Church be indigenous and that it serve the needs of the whole person. He later attended the Lambeth Convention as a bishop, and was also given charge of the Episcopal Church in the Dominican Republic from 1897 to 1911. He died in Haiti on 13 March 1911

In 1913, acting on a petition from the Haitian clergy, the General Convention of the Episcopal Church accepted the Church in Haiti as a Missionary District.

Holy Trinity Cathedral was built in the 1920s – the cornerstone was laid in 1924, and the cathedral was dedicated in 1929. The murals and sculptured bricks were added in the early 1950s.

The website of the Diocese of Haiti: www.egliseepiscopaledhaiti.org/

Canon Patrick Comerford is Director of Spiritual Formation, the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, and a Canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin.