Diocese of Haiti plans to elect bishop suffragan
Episcopal News Service. June 6, 2011 [060611-02]
ENS staff
The Episcopal Diocese of Haiti has received the church's permission to elect a bishop suffragan, according to a June 6 press release.
Diocesan Bishop Jean Zaché Duracin requested the position and his request received the canonically required consent (Canon III.11.10(b) (2)) of the majority of bishops with jurisdiction and diocesan standing committees, the press release from the Episcopal Church's Office of Public Affairs said.
This will be the diocese's first bishop suffragan.
The release said no date had been determined for the election.
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori's office notified the Diocese of Haiti on May 26 that the required majority of consents in the canonical consent process have been received. The presiding bishop confirmed the receipt of consents from a majority of bishops with jurisdiction, and reviewed the evidence of consents from a majority of standing committees of the church sent to her by the diocesan standing committee, the release said.
The bishop suffragan will assist Duracin as he serves the people and clergy of the diocese, numerically the largest diocese in the Episcopal Church.
For more information about the planned election, contact Bishop Clay Matthews of the church's Office of Pastoral Development at cmatthews@episcopalchurch.org.
The diocese continues to recover from the devastating magnitude-7 earthquake that struck just outside of Port-au-Prince, the country's capital, on Jan. 12, 2010.
The quake destroyed 71 percent of the diocese's churches, 50 percent of its primary schools and 80 percent of its secondary schools, according to details of an initial reconstruction plan that was released in November 2010.
Seventy-five percent of its higher-educational facilities must be demolished and 33 percent of the rectories, convents and guesthouses are seriously damaged and also must be destroyed. Also lost were the bishop's house and the diocese's income-producing condominium building.
The reconstruction plan predicted that the first phase of post-earthquake reconstruction and development would cost close to $197 million. The report estimated it would take $34.7 million to rebuild the cathedral and another $49.9 million to rebuild its adjacent complex of schools and the convent.
At Duracin's request, rebuilding Holy Trinity Cathedral in Port-au-Prince will be the diocese's first reconstruction project. To mark the first year since the quake, the Episcopal Church in January launched the Rebuild Our Church in Haiti fundraising campaign to support the initial phase of the cathedral project.