Norwich Diocese celebrates Mass for Haitian quake victims

Norwich - More than 100 people gathered at St. Mary's Church in Greeneville this morning to pray and sing for "so many known to us and unknown" victims of the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti and for their families in the Norwich area.

Alternating between English and Creole, with songs in Creole and French, the ceremony led by Father Gerry Kirby evoked hope for a "very different" future of Haiti. Kirby noted the connection between the suffering in Haiti and the Lenten season, which leads Christians to the hope of Easter.

The collection at the Mass will be donated to Hospice St. Joseph, a Diocese of Norwich hospice and health clinic in Port au Prince. The building was destroyed in the earthquake, but the clinic has reopened in a large courtyard with tents and a temporary structure with a tin roof.

Following communion and a moment of silence, The Most Rev. Michael Cote marveled at how local Haitians could sing in the wake of the suffering in Haiti.

"It is so you can be able to sing God's goodness in the face of such tragedy to your homeland," Cote said. "How wonderful your faith is to be able to sing the goodness of God."