VATICAN (CNS): Pope Francis called for the release of two religious brothers, members of the Congregation of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, who are still being held hostage in Haiti.
“I have learned with relief that in Haiti, a teacher and four of the six religious brothers of the Frères du Sacré-Cœur Institute, kidnapped last February 23, have been freed,” the pope said after praying the Angelus in St. Peter’s Square on March 17.
“I ask for the release as soon as possible of the other two brothers and all those people still being held hostage in that beloved country, so fraught with violence,” he said.
The kidnappings took place as Catholic religious have become targets for ransom in Haiti by armed gangs. In January, a group of six religious sisters were freed less than a week after being kidnapped by armed assailants. The United Nations said that more than 1,100 people had been killed, injured or kidnapped by gangs in January 2024 alone.
“I invite all the political and social actors to abandon any personal interest and to engage in a spirit of solidarity in the pursuit of the common good, supporting a peaceful transition to a country that, with the help of the international community, may be equipped with solid institutions capable of restoring order and tranquillity among its citizens,” the pope said about the crisis in Haiti.
An estimated 80 per cent of the capital, Port-au-Prince, is currently under the control of armed gangs, several of which recently began targeting state institutions, including prisons, police stations and the main international airport. Amid the violence, some four million people are facing “acute food insecurity,” warned UN World Food Programme director, Jean-Martin Bauer, on March 12.
Catholic clergy there are reported to be remaining in place to serve the populace.
“Where can we go? We have to stay in the midst of the people,” Haitian Father Eugène Almonor, for the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, said.
“It is our mission to be with them and to try to support them, to accompany them,” he stressed.
