"lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."
Posted on 01/16/2010 11:15:49 AM PST by NYer
The woman wailed outside the ruins of the Notre Dame Cathedral of Port-au-Prince, the iconic Roman Catholic church that symbolized Haiti's religious fervor.
"This is what God did!" she cried Friday morning. "See what God can do!"
Tuesday's earthquake brought down the roof of the enormous pink-and-cream church, filling the apse and nave with tons of rubble. The quake punched out its vivid stained glass windows, twisted its wrought-iron fencing and sliced brick walls like cake. The western steeple, which had soared more than 100 feet, toppled onto parishioners praying at an outdoor shrine to St. Emmanuel. Flies buzzed around the pile of copper, plaster and felled columns.
The senior Catholic figure in the country, Msgr. Joseph Serge Miot, was killed in the magnitude 7.0 earthquake. As many as 100 priests were still missing, sacristan Jean Claude Augustin said.
By the cathedral's ruins lay a small blue copy of the New Testament. Sheet music for Christian hymns was scattered through the street.
Haiti is, officially, predominantly Catholic, with some Protestant faiths. But across the board is an underlying belief in, or respect for, voodoo and other indigenous traditions, which are often mixed in with those religious practices.
Former Haitian President Bertrand Aristide was at one time wildly popular in part for his blend of superstitious spirituality, social activism and Catholic faith.
Many have turned to God for an explanation of this catastrophe visited upon Haiti. Tens of thousands of people have been spending the nights in the streets, singing hymns and calling out the Gospel.
Dudu Orelian, whose brother and nephew were killed, stood outside the cathedral.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Our prayers for the victims of this catastrophe.
The big guy sure doesnt need to be defended by little ole me but Im really getting tired of hearing God take the blame for this disaster.
With my limited human understanding, I’d expect God to preserve His cathedral, as a witness that the Christian faith is the one to which the people should devote themselves.
Pretty sure that GOD doesn’t want VOODOO mixed with HIS religion.....God will NOT be mocked!!!
"lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."
On 9-11, I remember Guiliani pointing out that the Trinity Church was spared...
Pretty sure God is above humanity’s follies and since God created heaven and earth anything that comes out of if it is HIS too.
These are times when faith itself is tested. I hope a fund will soon be established for reconstruction of this magnificent Cathedral.
That’s like saying that God created Porn! Please.....man has free will....voodoo is EVIL and not to be mixed with Christianity!!!
It is always interesting what does survive in something like this. I can not even come close to comprehending the impact of this earthquake.
The earthquake yes, more or less, The impact, no.
But with a world wide shortage of Catholic priests, this is not good for those who are Catholic in Haiti.
Are you any relation to Pat Robertson?
Wow! God is great. This is so similar to the cross of steel beams left in the wreckage of the World Trade Center. Makes you want to go down on your knees, doesn’t it?
~The OTTB mare, glad she is becoming a Catholic
Perhaps God believes that a better symbol and witness for those surviving will be the surviving Christians on the ground, able to actually aid and comfort those in need, rather than a static and rebuildable building.
*ping*
The Scriptures make it clear that rain falls on both good and bad persons. They also make it clear that such disasters cannot be automatically equated with the moral condition of the victims. Our human understanding is, indeed, limited. What we do know is that God can turn what is horrible into something very good because of His great justice and mercy. We know that His ways are higher than our ways.
Good luck in convincing the Haitians.
100 priests in ONE Church?
In our Church we have ONE priest... and he has to cover two other small churches out in outlying communities.
I had heard elsewhere that it was 100 priests and seminarians (considering that the seminary was one of the buildings that collapsed).
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