(July 24, 2010) The U.S. bishops have approved funding for 10 more projects in quake-stricken
Haiti, bringing the total amount of aid sent by the conference to over $1 million.
After the 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit the island in January, a special collection
in U.S. dioceses raised more than $80 million for Haiti. The Subcommittee on the Church
in Latin American of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which is administering
the funds, met this week to approve funding for projects that total $212,700. Haitian-American
Auxiliary Bishop Guy Sansaricq of Brooklyn and a member of the Advisory Group for
Haiti said they were doing their best to ensure that the funds donated are used for
reliable projects that will provide tangible relief for ordinary Catholics in Haiti.
The projects include funding for a truck for the Diocese of Jacmel that will remove
rubble from Church premises, a grant to train religious personnel and seminarians
and adult literacy programs in the Diocese of Port-de-Paix, as well as evangelization
programs. Cardinal Sean O'Malley, the archbishop of Boston and member of the advisory
group, said that during visits to Haiti after the earthquake he constantly assured
the people of the Church that whey would with them in the long run.