Institutions dependent on the Catholic Church in Haiti are expected to “observe a work stoppage” on Thursday to protest insecurity following the abduction of ten people on Sunday, including seven religious – five Haitians and two French – near Port-au-Prince.
“To protest against bad deeds in the country,” the church is calling on “Catholic institutions,” including schools and universities, to “observe a work stoppage” on Thursday, the Haitian Bishops’ Conference announced on Tuesday.
The “bandits” who “act in peace” seem to have “more power than the state and the police,” lamented the religious leaders, saying that “not even children are exempt” from kidnappings.
Masses will be celebrated on Thursday “to ask God to change Haiti,” they added.
On Monday, the Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince lamented the “descent into the hell of Haitian society” and denounced the inaction of the public authorities in this Caribbean country devastated by insecurity.
“Public authorities that do nothing to resolve this crisis are not immune to suspicion. We denounce satisfaction and complicity wherever they come from,” they said in a statement.
Later, President Jovenel Moise promised not to “surrender” to the “scourge” of the Haitian abduction. “I am aware that the state must make more efforts in the fight against this disaster,” he acknowledged.
The group abducted on Sunday includes four Haitian priests and a nun, as well as two French nationals from western France: a nun from the department of Mayenne and a priest from Ille-et-Vilaine who have lived in Haiti for more than 30 years.
Three people were also abducted, members of the family of a Haitian priest who is not among those abducted.
Most Haitians are Catholic and their country is the poorest in America.