The Archbishop of Haiti Mgr. Max Leroy Mésidor expressed in his name and in that of the Haiti episcopal conference, his gratitude for the words of Pope Leo XIV during the angelus of August 10 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-45526-haiti-religion-pope-leo-xiv-asks-the-international-community-to-support-haiti.html , for the Haitian people.

"The episcopal conference of Haiti thanks the Holy Father, Pope Léon XIV, for his cry on behalf of the Haitian people and for his call to the international community so that it has more decisive and concrete measures in the face of the situation in Haiti," said Mgr Max Leroy Mésidor, Archbishop of Port-au-Prince, in statements to the Vatican media.

In the poorest country of America, now dominated by armed bands, even the funeral has become currency : to bury a family member, a tax must be paid to the criminal groups that control cemeteries and funeral processions. In a country where, out of 11.7 million inhabitants, around 60 % live in poverty, there are few that can afford such expenses. So much so that, in rural areas like Petite-Rivière and Artibonite, families walk for hours [with their death] to avoid cemeteries controlled by criminals. And this is precisely what the Archbishop of Port-au-Prince denounced to the Vatican media: "The Church of Haiti notes that crime no longer knows any limits in our country..."

The kidnapping of 9 people, including a 3-year-old child from the Sainte-Hélène orphanage in Kenscoff https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-45476-haiti-flash-9-people-including-a-child-kidnapped-from-an-orphanage-in-kenscoff.html , testify of that. This barbaric act is one of the many signs of the bankruptcy of the State and a society with loss of sense of life and human dignity."

The Pope's words on Sunday calling for the "immediate liberation of hostages" and reaffirming the need for "concrete support for the international community" for Haiti, tore the veil of indifference to a crisis that the world tends to relegate to the margins of news, but which, on the contrary, is part of a "fragmented third world war" capable of devouring not only lives,

The most recent data, provided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (HCDH), confirm it : during the first half of 2025, more than 3,000 people were killed by criminal violence https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-45478-haiti-flash-one-haitian-killed-or-injured-every-hour.html . The UN agency also cites the death of 136 children, 185 kidnappings and 628 cases of sexual violence : a real war record, to which are added 1.3 million inappropriate people, 5 million people needing food aid and 217,000 children suffering from acute malnutrition.

"We hope that the Pope’s appeal will be heard by the Haitian authorities and the international community," added Archbishop Mesidor. "The latter has multiplied meetings on the situation in our country, but the results are terribly slow. The multinational security support mission (MMSS) has a very limited impact. There is a serious shortage of workforce and logistical resources."

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-45526-haiti-religion-pope-leo-xiv-asks-the-international-community-to-support-haiti.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-45478-haiti-flash-one-haitian-killed-or-injured-every-hour.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-45476-haiti-flash-9-people-including-a-child-kidnapped-from-an-orphanage-in-kenscoff.html

HL/ S/ Haitilibre