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(ANS – Port-au-Prince) – The visit of the Rector Major to Haiti has left its mark in the hearts of the Salesians, and sown seeds of hope. Not only because of the words of encouragement so often expressed in various circumstances – “Haiti must rise again” – but also because of his presence among the people, his visits to all the centres hit by the earthquake, the meetings held with the Council of the Vice Province, with  the authorities in Port-au-Prince and with the relief workers.

The Salesians of Haiti have expressed their own thanks in various ways. Fr Ducange Sylvain, the new Superior of the Vice Province of Haiti, said so in  the name of everyone during his short address at the end of the visit.

The dedication written by the Salesians of Haiti in the book of photographs “Haiti, the face of a country”  they have given to the Rector Major is significant. In it, referring to the date of the earthquake and of the visit of Fr Chávez, exactly a month later, they express their gratitude:

12 January 2010.
In a few seconds a terrifying earthquake put us on our knees. Apocalyptic catastrophe. Ruins. Deaths. Cries. Weeping. Dismay. Desolation. Silence. Rebellion. Darkness. Trauma. Misery. Desperation. Hands stretched out to each other. Hands stretched out to the Lord. “I have seen. I have heard. I understand. I have come down … Go, set my people free” (Exodus, 3, 7-8)

12 February 2010.
Fr Pascual like the Lord, you saw and understood. THANK YOU for having understood at once. In the letter to all the Salesians, which with your father’s heart you sent us. Awareness. Response. Solidarity. Fraternity…
Fr Chávez, before the Lord we say in confidence that the message which pleases us the most is “the open letter of yourself.” What a father’s heart! What sensitivity! Thank you father for not sending us a Moses. Thank you for coming yourself. Thank you for following in the steps of Jesus and the heart of Don Bosco. For sharing with us, from the suffering for our dead and dispersed to the struggle for life taken up again, from our ruins to the re-foundation starting from personal and community  conversion.
Fr Pascual, thank you, thank you.!

Published 18/02/2010