Haitians mark quake anniversary

HAITI: Faith is about all Haitians have left a year after an earthquake destroyed their country and on the last Sunday before the anguished anniversary, they flocked to praise God.

In Port-au-Prince, hundreds of Roman Catholics attended Mass under tents erected next to the cavernous ruins of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption.

Their prayers filtered through palm trees and over rubble. Men wore immaculately pressed long-sleeved shirts and the women crisp white and pink dresses, somehow kept free of the dust and dirt choking the capital.

All across the city similar scenes unfolded. Later Sunday, thousands flocked to a stadium to hear an American preacher, Franklin Graham, a star in the conservative US evangelical movement.

From the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI dedicated a "special thought" to Haiti and said he was sending the head of the church's charity arm. Haitians have long been known for fervent, rather idiosyncratic faith. A majority are Roman Catholic, but various Protestant churches have made strong inroads, while the deepest rooted faith here may be in voodoo.

On the eve of Wednesday's anniversary of the January 12, 2010 earthquake that killed more than 220,000 people and made homeless about one in 10 of the population, Haitians say they are more devout than ever. "The earthquake increased faith for many people. Many returned to their faith," said Francoeur Roland, 32, a plumber attending the open-air Mass at the cathedral.

Asked what was he was praying for, Roland, wearing a white coral necklace, answered: "That this doesn't happen again."

Port-Au-Prince, Monday, AFP