St. Joseph - Haiti Ministry

Joined with the parish of Saint Joseph in Thomonde, Haiti, by our common love of God and our Catholic Faith under the guidance of the Diocese of Richmond, we seek to maintain a relationship of spiritual growth and mutual benefit to both our parishes, as we journey together with Christ, "seeking an opportunity to grow deeper in faith and solidarity with all God's children around the world."

In keeping with our love for Christ, we are inspired to provide appropriate support to our twin parish in Haiti with love, compassion, and respect. This includes material and moral support for parish facilities and operations as well as special projects that benefit the basic needs and spiritual growth of parishioners and the local community. 

Our Lord gave us two foundational mandates: 1. To love without limits and 2. to announce His kingdom to the whole world. If we wish to be conformed to Him, we must follow both mandates. 

The first mandate requires us to rightly love God, ourselves, and our neighbors wherever and however we encounter them. Our parish community at Saint Bede formally honors this mandate through its office of Social Ministry. All of our domestic works of mercy are necessary and good but not sufficient. Our Lord also calls us to a larger mission. 

The Lord's second mandate is also a matter of great importance. The Church reminds us in Gaudium et Spes that we are called to announce the good news of God's kingdom to all men everywhere, whatever their condition or culture, not just to our own community. The call to evangelization is fundamental to our life as Christians. 

The world is a big place, and our community cannot serve in every part. However, with the encouragement of our bishop, we have selected an oppressed and long-suffering foreign community not too distant from our shores that needs our support and our witness. Haiti has a tragic history of injustice and oppression and is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Our twin parish of Saint Joseph in Thomonde needs a community like ours to stand by it. How can we ignore the plight of a downtrodden group of people that is about 65% Catholic?

What we do in Haiti is not simply charity. It is developing a respectful relationship with our suffering brethren, learning from them, reinforcing the best efforts of their local leaders, and providing any guidance they need. The task is difficult because of the crushing weight of 400 years of foreign and domestic abuse and the various pathologies that have been left behind, an African communal culture that has much to recommend but that individualistic Americans have difficulty understanding, and other communication barriers (Language, poor communications facilities, lack of functioning institutions, etc.). However, from the beginning the Roman Catholic Church has always been a missionary church, fired with the love of the Lord, overcoming many great obstacles. We are continuously called to the task. With God All things are possible.