Pope pledges Catholic institutions' continued presence in Haiti

Vatican City, Jan 23, 2010 / (CNA).-

The Press Office of the Holy See has released the content of two letters written by Pope Benedict XVI to leaders in Haiti following the country’s devastating earthquake. In the notes, the Holy Father expressed the solidarity of the Church with the people of Haiti and the intention of Church institutions to do everything in their power to restore “hope for the future.”

In separate letters sent on Jan. 16 to the President of Haiti, Rene Preval, and the president of the Haitian Catholic Bishops' Conference, Archbishop of Cap-Haitien Louis Kebreau, the Holy Father transmitted his "fervent prayer for all of the people touched by this dreadful catastrophe" and assured the presence of the Catholic Church in providing continued assistance to the tragedy’s victims.

He expressed his prayer that God take the deceased into "the peace of his Kingdom," especially Archbishop Serge Miot "who shared the fate of so many of his faithful." The Pontiff also asked for consolation for the families of victims, "who, often, haven't been able to give a decent burial to their disappeared loved ones."

The Holy Father hailed the quick response of the international community in coming to the aid of the Haitian people and assured President Preval of the Catholic Church's intentions to stay beside those affected by the disaster and to do everything possible to help give them “hope for the future.”

In the letter to the archbishop, the Pope also pledged the continued presence of the Catholic Church in providing emergency aid and "patient" reconstruction in devastated areas. He then entrusted the hearts of the people to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, that she direct them to choose solidarity over isolation.

ARCHBISHOP Lawrence Burke, SJ, first archbishop of the Bahamas, died in Kingston, Jamaica, at 7 o'clock last night after a long battle with cancer.

Archbishop Burke, 77, died in the retirement home for Catholic priests in the Kingston Archdiocese. He had retired in 2008, four years after being transferred from the Bahamas to take over the archdiocese of his native Kingston.

Archbishop Burke, born in Kingston on October 27, 1932, entered the Society of Jesus on August 14, 1951 at Lenox, Massachusetts and was ordained a priest on June 16, 1964 at Holy Trinity Cathedral, Kingston.

He taught at St. George's College, Jamaica, from 1958 to 1969, when he was named Rector of the College. In 1973 he was appointed Regional Superior of the Jesuits in Jamaica, the first and only Jamaican to be appointed to that post, which he held until 1979. He returned to St George's College in 1980 as Acting Principal.

He was appointed Bishop of Nassau by Pope John Paul II on July 17, 1981 and on June 22, 1999, was named the first Archbishop of the newly erected Archdiocese of Nassau.

It was under Archbishop Burke that the new St Francis Xavier's Cathedral was planned and built.
On February 9, 2004 Archbishop Burke was appointed the fourth Archbishop of Kingston and was installed on May 2, 2004, at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Kingston.

He was given special recognition by his country on Monday, October 19, 2009, when he received National Honours - The Order of Jamaica - for outstanding contribution to Religion and Education.

The funeral of Archbishop Burke will take place on Thursday February 4, 2010.