Church leaders urge prayer for Haiti survivors: CEN 1.22.10 p 7.

Church leaders across the Anglican Communion have joined the Archbishop of Canterbury in calling for prayer and support for the people of Haiti in the wake of the Jan 12 earthquake that devastated the Caribbean republic.

“I am profoundly shocked and concerned to hear about the devastating earthquake in Haiti,” Dr. Rowan Williams said on Jan 14.

“As the news comes through, we are learning more about the tragic loss of life, injury suffered and terrible damage to the country. We stand alongside all the people in Haiti affected by this terrible disaster in prayer, thought and action as the situation unfolds. We pray for the rescue of those still trapped and look towards the rebuilding of lives and communities.”

On Jan 12 at 4:53 pm, a magnitude 7 earthquake rocked the capital of Port-au-Prince. It was quickly followed by two aftershocks registering 5.9 and 5.5 on the Richter magnitude scale.

The Red Cross reports that as many as 3 million people may have been affected by the quake, while initial estimates of the dead from 30,000 to 300,000. The quake’s epicenter was 10 miles outside the capital and is reported to have leveled much of the city. Aftershocks continue to rock the Caribbean, with a 6.2 magnitude earthquake recorded on Jan 19 with its epicenter 32 miles south of Grand Cayman Island.

Power and telephone service has been disrupted across most of the country making it difficult to assess the full extent of the damage. Haiti’s endemic political turmoil, poverty, and the four hurricanes that decimated the country in 2008, have also left it ill-equipped to respond to the disaster.

The Archbishop of Cape Town was the first to respond to the disaster, writing to Bishop Jean-Zaché Duracin of Haiti on Jan 13 assuring him of his church’s “urgent and heartfelt prayers at this traumatic time.

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba said he hoped aid would quickly come to the island. “We particularly look to countries such as the United States of America to show the love of a neighbour in helping you not only materially, but in restoring dignity to those who are suffering devastation, and in supporting the long-term rebuilding of both infrastructure and human society.”

In a statement distributed for distribution on Jan 31 to the congregations of the Episcopal Church, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori wrote “the world has been turned upside down, as the bones of the earth have shifted underneath Haiti. We are reminded of life’s fragility and unpredictability as we watch the news reports and see the devastation of human lives.”

The Episcopal Diocese of Haiti is “among the largest in our church. Before this disaster, the diocese counted between 100,000 and 120,000 members in 169 congregations served by just 37 clergy,” she said The diocese served more than 80,000 children in 254 diocesan educational institutions, from preschool to college and sponsored Haiti’s only philharmonic orchestra and its only schools for disabled children and nursing, the presiding bishop said.

Much of this work had been destroyed, she noted, as the “earthquake flattened the cathedral and its surrounding buildings, including schools and a convent; it destroyed the bishop’s home and the diocesan offices. One of the diocese’s institutions of higher education is gone. As I write this in mid-January, we don’t know the condition of other institutions.”

Reconstruction will take years, she said, but the Episcopal Church, “all of it– will be vital in that effort.”

Canadian Archbishop Fred Hiltz asked for prayers for the people of Haiti, “as they struggle with such devastation and grief.”

Writing on Jan 13, he also asked Canadians to support the charitable relief efforts underway, appealing “in the name of Christ in his compassion for all who suffer” to “generously to increase our support for relief efforts.”

The Church of Ireland’s Archbishop of Armagh, Dr. Alan Harper stated his “heart goes out to the survivors, both those suffering injuries and the bereaved. I pray for the success of the international response to the disaster and I encourage all those who feel able to do so to contribute financially to assist the people of Haiti at this terrible time.”

The Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, Bishop David Chillingworth of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane said his church held “hold in prayer all the victims of the devastating earthquake in Haiti – the families of those who have been killed in this tragedy, the thousands of people whose homes and livelihoods have been destroyed, and all the rescue and aid workers, medical staff and volunteers.”

He backed the Christian Aid Haiti appeal, urging support for the victims of the earthquake.

The Archbishop of the West Indies on Jan 17 called on the Caribbean to support Haiti. Dr John Holder urged West Indians to be faithful to “strong Caribbean spirit and let us respond to Haiti,” urging Barbadians to donate cash to support a field hospital being established by CARICOM.

In his Jan 14 statement, Dr. Williams stated “in this time of catastrophic loss and destruction, I urge the public to hold the people of Haiti in their prayers, and to give generously and urgently to funding appeals set up for relief work.”