Five priests, two nuns and three laypeople were abducted together last week on their way to a parish near the capital of Port-au-Prince in Haiti.
“This new case is a reflection of the collapse of the security apparatus of the state and the country. No one seems to be safe anymore,” Redemptorist Fr. Renold Antoine told Fides, the news agency of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
“Outlawed groups continue to sow fear and sadness in the hearts of the population,” he said.
Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) spoke with Bishop Jean Désinord of the Diocese of Hinche in Haiti about his reaction to the abductions. The bishop said: “We are wondering who will be next? Will it be me or a brother priest? The priests and religious are truly in danger of psychosis. We are living in constant fear”.
Bishop Pierre-André Dumas of Anse-à-Veau et Miragoâne, vice president of the bishops’ conference, told AFP, “This is too much. The time has come for these inhuman acts to stop.”
“The church prays and stands in solidarity with all the victims of this heinous act,” he said.
