Bishop Pierre André Dumas, Father Richard Leo Frechette and volunteers from Food for the Poor burned incense and sprinkled holy water on the bodies in an effort to give the earthquake victims in Ti-Tanyen a proper Christian burial.

Published On:Monday, February 01, 2010

ALMOST immediately following the worldwide publication of photos showing the dumping of earthquake victims in mass graves in Haiti, religious leaders and volunteers of the charity Food for Poor-Haiti mobilised to make every effort to give them a proper Christian burial.

Daniel-Gérard Rouzier, chairman of the board of Trustees for Food for the Poor-Haiti, thanked the American news station CNN and its anchor Anderson Cooper for uncovering the fact that more than 2,500 bodies had been unceremoniously dumped in the settlement of Ti-Tanyen.

"Please note that Haitians always show tremendous respect for our dead and that this thoughtless act should not in any way reflect who we are," Mr Rouzier said in a letter to CNN which he wished to be distributed in the Bahamas and throughout the region.

"Consequently, I want you to also report that as of today, Haitians have started the process to provide all the bodies dumped in Ti-Tanyen a decent sepulture. In reality, over 1,500 bodies were buried today and the remaining 1,000 or so will be buried tomorrow."

Volunteers

The pictures sent by Mr Rouzier show that on Friday, January 29, less than 12 hours after Mr Cooper's report, Bishop Pierre André Dumas, Father Richard Leo Frechette and volunteers from Food for the Poor burnt incense, sprinkled holy water on the bodies, recited the rosary of the painful mysteries of Christ's life, dug mass graves and gave these pour souls a decent Christian burial.

"Once again, on behalf of a mourning nation please accept the expression of our deepest gratitude for taking the time to inform us about an atrocious situation and allowing us to correct it as quickly and as decently as we know how," Mr Rouzier said.