The Christian Post reports that a major Catholic Church in Haiti has gone up in flames on Easter. I can add that in addition to this story, I am acquainted with this church because my parish paid for repairing and rebuilding the roof before the massive fire.
The Royal Chapel of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Church in Milot, Haiti, located just outside the city of Cap-Haïtien, is among three structures within the National Historic Park in the Caribbean nation’s northern region. An early Monday morning blaze consumed the entirety of the dome of the church and by the time firefighters arrived it was too late as it had been completely burned, according to the Miami Herald.
“This church is the pride of Milot. It’s the pride of the North. It’s the pride of Haiti,” said parish priest, Father Alain Prophète, in an interview with the Miami Herald. “I am in shock.”
Locals in the town attempted to put out the blaze on their own but their efforts were short-lived.
“They fought, and fought; some were even injured,” Prophète said. “In the moment we are speaking, we do not have a church. … Only the walls are standing.”
Patrick Durandis, director of the National Heritage Preservation Institute, told the South Florida Caribbean News Tuesday that he was told by someone in site that the fire started at around 3 a.m. in an annex building.
“We were waiting for the firefighters who were there but who unfortunately could not intervene for various reasons. It is difficult for us to have clear ideas to intervene suitably on this building, especially since we are caught elsewhere by the epidemic of coronavirus,” Durandis said. (source)
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