VOTF On the Road

Paul Kendrick is co-founder of VOTF Portland, Maine. He returned recently from his second trip in a year to Haiti. While his trip was not VOTF-related, it nonetheless tells us a little more about each other.

Rev. Pierre Michelin has to be carried over the river in Port-Margot, Haiti each Sunday in order to be able to say Mass at his mission church. There are no passable roads for him to drive from his main parish. If the water is too high, he is unable to go. The rectory has electricity for 3 hours per day, from 7-10 pm.

At Mass in Cap-Hatien, the choir sings like angels. I am the only person to receive the Eucharist with my hands and the only white person to receive communion. An old woman and her daughter sit on the other side of me. They pray with their hands outstretched.

Catholic sisters, brothers and priests, Christian groups from Canada and elsewhere try to fill the gaps in Haiti by running orphanages, street clinics for kids, homes for the mentally handicapped and schools for the blind and deaf. The group I am with from Portland has formed a partnership with the Justinian Hospital in Cap-Hatien. They are providing equipment and supplies to the hospital as well as training. Peace Corps volunteers, the quiet and courageous heroes of Haiti, live alone in dirt-floor huts with no electricity or hot water.

The people of Haiti wash their clothes wherever they can find a spring. It is important to the Haitian people that their clothes are clean. In the countryside, clothes are laid to dry on bushes and in trees. Elsewhere, the people line up at pump wells on garbage-strewn, pot-holed city streets to fill their dirty buckets. Sometimes a whole street is blocked by the piles of garbage. Children build forts out of the garbage in the main harbor, their bare feet entrenched in the filthy muck. Most children in Haiti will die before they are five years old from diarrhea and malnutrition. It is estimated that up to 10% of Haitian children are sold into slavery.

It is difficult to explain the sense of dignity and pride that emanates from the people of Haiti. One notices a mother and daughter walking by, holding hands, talking and laughing with each other.

In The Poor are the Church, the author Rev. Joseph Wresenski, suggests that the church exists for the poor. Otherwise there is no church. I have suggested to my pastor that every decision we make as a parish, as a community of faithful, must be followed by the simple question, "How does this decision affect the poor."

The Pope lives in a place described by the Vatican press as an "apostolic palace." In our own Portland, Maine diocese, our bishop resides in a mansion in one of the most desirable parts of the city. During the Cathedral renovation, the most skilled (and expensive) stained glass manufacturer in the world was called upon. A parish in Portland decided to clean an entire outside brick wall because the wall did not exactly match the hue of the adjoining brick wall. What kind of visual message does this project to the poor in our diocese?

It is the message of a bishop who is "set apart," so very unlike Christ who gathered the poor to Himself.

Victims of clergy sexual abuse have been mistreated, berated, and shunned by my church's (servant) leaders. Millions of Catholics have inflicted additional insult by failing to stand up and demand redress for the crimes committed against children. Bishops have refused to be held accountable for their actions of covering up the crimes of sexually abusive priests in order to avoid scandal and protect themselves and the perpetrators. Because of their actions, more children were harmed.

I met with the Archbishop of Cap-Hatien (he is retiring soon). (My own bishop will not sit in the same room with me). I asked him if he speaks out against the government of Haiti in favor of better living conditions for the people. He never directly responded to my question. A priest later complained to me that the bishop is never available for either the priests or the people. He is always attending high level church meetings.

Our hotel provided safe food and drinking water (although I still became very ill upon my return). I had an early (6:30 a.m.) breakfast on my last morning in Haiti. An older Haitian man who often begs for money at the hotel greeted me from a short distance away. I was the only one in the dining room, so he dared to venture near. On my table was coffee, juice, a bread basket with freshly made jam and a fruit plate. As we passed some small talk, I suddenly became very aware that I had all this food and he had none. I asked him if he would like some toast. He wondered if I might wrap it for him in a paper napkin. I stared at the table. "Would you like some fruit," I asked. He nodded quickly. I wrapped the fresh papaya and pineapple. The old man suddenly took leave, using his hat to hide everything. In ten minutes, he was back, the food safely deposited somewhere, possibly with his family.

The old man's name is Raphael. In a past visit, he and I stood in solidarity to receive the Eucharist at Mass. Yet, on this morning we were separated by a breakfast table - a table in which I had all the food and he had none.

Sometimes in life there are unexpected defining moments. The poor are the Church.

Mary Ann Keyes chairs the national Parish Voice Working Group and reports on recent travel.

Wonderful news from Louisville VOTF! The Goal #2 team completed their second in their series of dialogs with local priests. All priests (almost 200), including retired and priests in orders as well as diocesan priests, were invited. Between the two nights, 16 priests attended. We had good, honest dialog. Everyone who was there came away feeling that we had a great start. The evening was very encouraging.

The Goal #2 team did an enormous amount of work. They wrote to the priests and then followed up with a phone call to all of them. They planned the time from making reservations to providing refreshments. The team is composed of Margie Zoellar, Lucy Fennewald, Elaine Flynn and Vince Grenough.

The number of VOTFers invited was kept small so that we didn’t outnumber the priests. The team wanted balance with representatives of survivors and a balance of men and women.

Voice of the Faithful, VOTF, "Keep the Faith, Change the Church,"
Voice of Compassion, VOTF logo(s), Parish Voice, and
Prayerful Voice are trademarks of Voice of the Faithful, Inc.

Voice of the Faithful is a 501(c) 3 tax-exempt organization.