The Diocese of Brooklyn has the second highest population of Haitian-Americans and immigrants in the U.S. The diocese’s mobilization to help quake-ravaged Haiti stems from the solid bond between the long-suffering nation and the Roman Catholic Church.
On Saturday, Aug. 21, Bishop Sansaricq, a retired auxiliary bishop for the Diocese of Brooklyn and the first Haitian bishop in the United States, died at age 86.
There are an estimated 200 Catholics in Afghanistan — a tiny minority within the minority of around 7,000 Christians — and days after the Taliban took control of the country following the withdrawal of U.S. troops, a papal charity is sounding the alarm over their situation.
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio is asking the faithful in Brooklyn and Queens to support earthquake relief efforts in Haiti by contributing to a voluntary second collection at Mass during the next couple of weeks.
Caritas Pakistan has alerted its diocesan units bordering neighboring Afghanistan to help refugees fleeing the Taliban’s takeover of the country, reported ucanews.com. Thousands of Afghans have entered Pakistan via the Chaman border crossing, one of the most active trade and travel routes between the countries, according to media reports.
As the Taliban reclaim power over Afghanistan, a question in the mind of many rank and file Catholics is how can they help. Yet the situation is still so convoluted, even Caritas Internationalis, the largest network of Catholic charities is grappling to answer the same question.
Harry Dumay, president of the College of Our Lady of the Elms in Chicopee and a native of Haiti, said everyone throughout his homeland is “devastated by what happened to their brothers and sisters in the south of Haiti,” hit Aug. 14 by a magnitude 7.2 earthquake.
Caritas Italy announced the suspension of charitable activities in Afghanistan in the wake of the Taliban’s takeover of the country.
When each individual makes a small act of charity, like getting the COVID-19 vaccine, every gesture added together can transform the world, Pope Francis said in a global ad campaign.
Two Catholic nuns were shot and killed along a highway in South Sudan Aug. 16 as they were returning home to Juba. Seven other sisters survived the attack.
