Pope Leo calls for release of Gena Heraty and eight others kidnapped in Haiti
has called for the immediate release of nine hostages, including
Irish woman Gena Heraty
, saying the situation in Haiti has become 'increasingly desperate.'
Ms Heraty, originally from Co Mayo, was taken by a gang with eight others, including a three-year-old child, on August 3rd in Kenscoff, Port-au-Prince.
The missionary aged in her 50s, who has lived in Haiti since 1993, was abducted from the Sainte-Hélène orphanage, which she oversees, run by Nos Petits Frères et Soeurs (NPFS, Our Little Brothers and Sisters).
Speaking after the Sunday Angelus prayer in St Peter's Square on Sunday, Pope Leo described the circumstances faced by the Haitian people as 'increasingly desperate'.
READ MORE
'There are constant reports of murders, violence of all kinds, human trafficking, forced exile, and kidnappings.
'I make a heartfelt appeal to all responsible to release the hostages immediately, and I ask for the concrete support of the international community in creating social and institutional conditions that will allow Haitians to live in peace,' he said.
Pope Leo XIV described the situation for Haitians as increasingly desperate amid unchecked gang violence. Photograph:The abduction comes during a period of crisis in Haiti, where 1.3 million people are displaced by violence.
Earlier this summer, UN human rights chief Volker Türk said this crisis has 'plummeted to a new low' as gangs extend their reach, carrying out killings, rapes and kidnappings.
In the first five months of this year, 316 people were kidnapped for ransom, according to United Nations figures, while 2,680 were killed.
It is believed the gang who led the kidnapping of Ms Heraty are associates of the Viv Ansanm group, one of two major crime syndicates in Haiti sanctioned by the United Nations last month.
Contact has previously been made between NPFS and the gang through intermediaries.
Efforts are ongoing to secure the safe return of the hostages with Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris saying last week that
different avenues at both political and diplomatic levels
'continue to be exhausted'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
Letters to the Editor, August 15th: On Michael O'Leary, Tony Honohan for president, and shooting dogs
Michael McDowell and the state of Israel Sir, – Michael McDowell (' Hostages in Gaza not a priority for Israel's ministers ,' Opinion, August 13th) condemns Israeli annexation of the West Bank because it breaks international law. Yet he praises 'decent Londoners' when they break domestic law by supporting a proscribed organisation. Both groups are doing the same thing; breaking the law when they find the law politically inconvenient. They deserve equal condemnation by anyone who claims to value the rule of law, unless one finds this politically inconvenient also. – Yours, etc, Dr DAVID WOODS, Dept of Classics, University College Cork, READ MORE Cork, Sir, – Michael McDowell rightly condemns the mass killing, displacement, and collective punishment currently being inflicted on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Yet, he, like many other western politicians, still feels obliged to endorse the state of Israel, whose very foundations rest on the violent dispossession and exclusion of another people. Yes, it is a fact that Israel exists, and under international law it is recognised as a sovereign state. But recognition of that reality should not mean that its current form, defined by apartheid structures, permanent military occupation, and ethno-religious privilege, is beyond question. Just as we once accepted the legal existence of apartheid South Africa but challenged its system of governance as morally indefensible, it must be acceptable to question whether the Israeli state, as presently constituted, can ever deliver justice or equality. The state of Israel was not born as a benign democracy; rather, it was established in 1948 through systematic expulsions, the destruction of villages, and the creation of a refugee crisis that endures to this day. These were not tragic accidents of war, but deliberate policies aimed at creating and maintaining a Jewish-majority state through the removal and subjugation of the indigenous Palestinian population. This was, and remains, an apartheid system under international legal definitions. Western political leaders often speak of 'shared democratic values' with Israel while overlooking that those values are applied selectively and exclusively. The ongoing settlement project, the blockade of Gaza, and the military occupation of the West Bank are not deviations from an otherwise just order; they are the logical continuation of a state project rooted in ethno-religious separation and sustained by force. Condemning Binyamin Netanyahu's government while maintaining unconditional support for the state it leads is moral evasion. If we in Ireland truly value human rights, international law, and equality, we must stop treating Israel as a normal democracy with a temporary extremist problem and instead recognise the structural injustice at its core. – Yours, etc, SÉAMUS WHITE, Stoneybatter, Dublin 7, Sir, – Trish Lavelle ( Letters, August 13th ) asks that statements from Israeli officials be accompanied by disclaimers to the effect that such statements are subject to 'strict military censorship' and that Israel, 'often cited as the only democracy in the Middle East', ranks at 112 on the world Press Freedom Index, just below Haiti. I'm sure that Ms Lavelle will have noted that Israel is the highest-ranked Middle Eastern country on the index, and that Palestine ranks at 163, wedged between Cambodia and Belarus. Therefore, shouldn't utterances from the various Palestinian authorities – which have comprised the bulk of the statistics published and broadcast relating to the war in Gaza since 2023 – be accompanied by similar caveats? After all, Hamas's commitment to the freedom of the press should be appreciated by the widest audience possible. – Yours, etc, KILLIAN FOLEY-WALSH Kilkenny City Michael O'Leary and being rich Sir, – Michael O'Leary ( Letters, August 13th ) pleads guilty to 'being rich'. RH Tawney, in his classic book Religion and the Rise of Capitalism, quotes the advice of French writer Anatole France: 'The mercy of God is infinite: it will save even a rich man.' – Yours, etc, LINDSAY ARMSTRONG Beechwood Avenue, Ranelagh, Dublin 6. Sir, – I would like to invite Michael O'Leary to accompany me from my nearest bus stop on Grange Road to the airport on the number 16 bus. The scheduled journey time is 88 minutes but could be longer depending on traffic. We'd have plenty of time to discuss the issues of the day. – Yours, etc, FIONA McGOLDRICK, Grange Downs, Dublin 14. Sir, – You gave Michael O'Leary ample space to defend his criticism of MetroLink in his letter of August 13th. However, O'Leary is not right when he says that 'the cost-benefit of this insanity has never been published, because it cannot be justified'. Obviously, he has not looked at the websites of MetroLink and the National Transport Authority . If he had, he would have seen at least two cost-benefit analyses (CBAs). First, there was the CBA published in 2018. In 2022, a second CBA was published. The latter shows that the estimated transport-user benefits of the MetroLink scheme are forecast to exceed the estimated outline scheme costs. It is important that a new CBA now be completed, and published, based on the most up-to-date project details available. It is in the public interest that people should be made aware of the costs and benefits of large-scale projects being funded from the public purse. – Yours, etc, TOM FERRIS, Blackrock, Co Dublin. Length of school holidays Sir, – I was compelled to write after reading your recent opinion piece on school holidays being too long for working parents (' Are school holidays in this country too long ?' Opinion, August 12th). While I agree that the long break can be challenging, I wondered whether employers could offer a practical solution. Instead of the impossible option of taking the full seven-and-a-half or nine weeks off, employers might consider allowing staff to work part-time during the summer. For example, working half days when children are at summer camps would reduce the need for afternoon childcare. The maths is simple. Assuming a 40-hour week, nine weeks at part-time means 180 hours to make up. Spread over the remaining 43 working weeks of the year, this is about 4.2 extra hours a week so roughly an extra half-day. I'm fairly sure that many committed employees are already doing this. Such a system could be open to all employees, not just parents, with accrued hours taken at any time of year. Employers would need to plan for potential staffing issues, perhaps by adopting a job-share model during the summer months. Employees would need to be flexible as the employer will need to ensure that the business functions at any time when leave is taken. This approach could give parents a little breathing space in July and August, while maintaining productivity year-round. – Yours, etc, GILLIAN MCCARTHY, Knocklyon, Dublin 16. Farmers and food prices Sir, – John McManus blames farmers, ie food producers, for the rise in food prices (' Rising grocery prices down to farmers increasing margins ,' Business, August 13th). A visit to any livestock mart in the country will show that there is major competition for animals heading for the food chain. China, India and a couple of European countries (Italy and Spain) cannot get enough beef and lamb so prices rise. Why are houses so dear? Because they are scarce. Why are meat and their products so dear? Because they are scarce. Don't blame the producers. – Yours, etc, RICHARD ALLEN, Cummeen, Co Sligo. Attacks on Indian people Sir, – President Michael D Higgins has condemned recent attacks on Indian people living in Ireland as a 'stark contradiction' to the values the Irish public hold dear (' Higgins condemns 'despicable attacks' on Indian people ,' Home News, August 13th) Unfortunately it seems that those traditional values of welcome and openness to the stranger have been diminishing and even disappearing to the point that they are being replaced by open hostility and violence against anyone perceived as the 'other' in our society. It can be argued that our traditional welcome of 'cead mile fáilte' is more of a myth and make-believe to attract tourism rather than ever been embedded in our culture. Hostility against the Traveller community was and remains endemic among the settled society. It is heartbreaking to have to listen to international protection applicants as they describe how they are taunted with racist slurs on our streets and how they fear going out alone in our public areas for fear of being assaulted. Our streets have become a hostile environment not alone for our Indian community and asylum seekers but also for the LGBTQ+ and other marginalised groups. This hostility bordering on hatred against the stranger is not confined just to our cities but it has taken root throughout our country, judging from the burning down of accommodation intended for international protection applicants. Putting a few extra gardaí might contain the violence for a while but a more radical approach to this pandemic of hostility to the 'other' is needed. – Yours, etc, BRENDAN BUTLER, Home Farm Road, Dublin 9. Holohan for president Sir, – I for one am enthused by the groundbreaking potential of Tony Holohan joining the race for the presidency (' Honohan ponders run for Áras after 'encouraging' poll, ' August 13th). He might be the first person to go from being the unelected head of government to an elected head of state in any western democracy. – Yours, etc, FIONA MEEHAM, Donnybrook, Dublin 4. Sir, – Any political party or nominating group that wants to win the presidential election only has to nominate Prof Tony Holohan as its candidate to repeat a Mary Robinson or Mary McAleese result. Despite personal adversity, Mr Holohan was there for the people of this country showing the leadership necessary when it was most needed. He is responsible for saving innumerable lives. – Yours, etc, SHEAMUS SMITH, Rathgar, Dublin 6. Planning delays as an art form Sir, – The 'Living Next Door To ...' series has been a joy – though the recent piece on the Dublin Spire (' My first memory was when Nelson's Pillar was blown up and out windows shattered ', News, August 14th) brought with it a bout of despair for me. It mentioned, almost in passing, that a plan for a boutique hotel on O'Connell Street had been felled – not by public outrage or financial ruin, but by that most Irish of assassins: the planning process. We have elevated 'delay' to an art form. In this country, you could apply to plant a window box and retire before the petunias get approval. Our planners – part monk, part molasses – appear to stall everything from housing to wind farms to hotels, often with the serene conviction that they're protecting the common good from the terrible scourge of progress. I'm not advocating the Trumpian approach of replacing every dissenting official with a cousin who owns a bulldozer, but perhaps we could at least speed things up something faster than the speed of a glacier. Failing that, might we rebrand Ireland as a heritage theme park, where the chief attraction is that nothing changes. – Yours, etc, GEOFF SCARGILL, Bray. Co Wicklow. Dogs and sheep worrying Sir – Not content with having the legal authority to shoot over 20 species of wild birds and up to 10 mammal species, Ireland's shooting community are looking for another living target – the domestic dog. The issue of dogs worrying and killing sheep is a localised issue in parts of Ireland. It is caused by dogs entering a field where sheep and lambs are grazing, and attacking them. This can result in injury and death to livestock. As an annual animal welfare issue, it garners local and national media headlines, but no humane solution to solving this issue has been devised and implemented. The Control of Dogs Act, 1986, allows for the shooting of dogs worrying sheep by sheep farmers so long as there were no other reasonable means of ending or preventing the worrying. Recently, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture and Food heard from a National Association for Regional Game Councils (NARGC) spokesperson who said legislation should be changed that would allow the sheep farmer to subcontract the shooting of dogs that were in the act of sheep worrying to a local NARGC gun club member or to a non-gun club licensed firearm holder. The thinking is that the sheep farmer might not have the capacity to shoot the dogs. We believe the NARGC proposal is a Trojan horse. The offer to shoot dogs worrying sheep is a ruse to obtain access to private land which is becoming more and more difficult as landowners are rejecting shooting and embracing the value of wildlife on their land. Drawing on the lexicon of the sheep industry: the Irish shooting community can 'flock off' as the domestic dog will never be allowed to be added to the list of species that can be recreationally shot in Ireland. – Yours, etc JOHN TIERNEY, Campaigns director, Association of Hunt Saboteurs, Dublin 1.
Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
Pope Leo targeted Maga money in early days as pontiff, says Mary McAleese
Pope Leo XIV has attempted to court Maga money from the US back into the Catholic Church while simultaneously contesting aspects of the political movement's thinking and actions, former president Mary McAleese has said. In a critical article reflecting on the new pontiff, Ms McAleese took issue with various aspects of his brief period in office , seizing on same-sex marriage and his attitude toward women in particular. Her views are set out in an article for the current UK Catholic Tablet magazine to mark the pope's first 100 days on Friday. Leo, she wrote, had followed the agenda of his predecessor Francis in support of migrants and the poor, although with reduced volume, 'as he tries to court Maga (Make United States Great Again) money back into the Church while simultaneously contesting aspects of Maga governmental thinking and acting'. READ MORE One of the main subjects considered by the cardinals before Leo's election was the parlous state of Vatican finances where, according to accounts for 2024, there was an €83 million shortfall, while its pension fund shortfall was estimated at €631 million. On May 16th last, in one of his first statements as pope, Leo affirmed Catholic teaching on marriage as founded on the 'stable union between a man and a woman,' and church teaching banning abortion. Ms McAleese said such 'uncompromising comments' could have been made by previous conservative popes Benedict, John Paul II, Paul VI or Pius XI. 'That they also appeal to the constituency of US Catholic voters who distrusted Francis and whose financial support Leo is trying to restore, is noteworthy,' she wrote. [ How a quiet American became pope Opens in new window ] She was also less than enthusiastic about the new pope's stance on women in the church, describing him as 'as bog-standard patriarchal, patronising and prone to tokenism'. Meanwhile, his views on Church teaching where LGBTIQ+ issues are concerned were anything but 'forward thinking,' she said. Noting that Leo recently appointed Rev Thomas Hennen as Bishop of Baker, Oregon in the US, she said the new bishop supported Courage International. [ Pope Leo XIV: what does he stand for? Opens in new window ] It 'advocates celibacy and caters for the spiritual needs of LGBTIQ+ Catholics within existing magisterial teaching which regards homosexuality as intrinsically disordered and homosexual acts as evil. This appointment and its accompanying spin is a worrying straw in the wind.' Overall, she felt the last 100 days showed that 'Leo is more Benedict than Francis though in fairness the latter's reputation as a reformer was well over-egged'. 'We appear at least to have pivoted dramatically from a careless pope to a cautious pope, from a sometimes narky showman to a genial shy man, from an impulsive pope to a measured pope, from a Latin American pope to an American pope.' The first American pope, Leo XIV's election on May 8th last took almost everyone by surprise, mainly due to his nationality. It tends to be Catholic Church tradition that conclaves rarely elect a pope from one of the world's major powers. Pope Leo XIV delivers his Angelus blessing from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square on August 10th. Photograph: Elisabetta Trevisan - Vatican Media via by Vatican Pool/ Getty Images As surprising was that he had been a member of the College of Cardinals, which elected him, for less than two years. He was on the Roman Curia, as prefect at the Dicastery for Bishops, for a little more than that, since January 2023. Following his election, unlike his predecessor, Pope Leo appeared on the balcony at St Peter's wearing the traditional papal stole and mozzetta. Since when he has decided to reside at the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, unlike Francis, and has already been to the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo twice, a place Francis never visited. Commenting on this, Ms McAleese said 'almost entirely gone from Pope Leo' papacy already are the early self-effacing elements of Francis' papacy which provoked much favourable comment about his perceived modesty'. She asked whether Leo will 'have the courage and faith to be an agent of change or are we already looking at another filibuster pope like Francis, just different in personality not outcome?'
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Irish Times
Pope Leo calls for release of Gena Heraty and eight others kidnapped in Haiti
Pope Leo XIV has called for the immediate release of nine hostages, including Irish woman Gena Heraty , saying the situation in Haiti has become 'increasingly desperate.' Ms Heraty, originally from Co Mayo, was taken by a gang with eight others, including a three-year-old child, on August 3rd in Kenscoff, Port-au-Prince. The missionary aged in her 50s, who has lived in Haiti since 1993, was abducted from the Sainte-Hélène orphanage, which she oversees, run by Nos Petits Frères et Soeurs (NPFS, Our Little Brothers and Sisters). Speaking after the Sunday Angelus prayer in St Peter's Square on Sunday, Pope Leo described the circumstances faced by the Haitian people as 'increasingly desperate'. READ MORE 'There are constant reports of murders, violence of all kinds, human trafficking, forced exile, and kidnappings. 'I make a heartfelt appeal to all responsible to release the hostages immediately, and I ask for the concrete support of the international community in creating social and institutional conditions that will allow Haitians to live in peace,' he said. Pope Leo XIV described the situation for Haitians as increasingly desperate amid unchecked gang violence. Photograph:The abduction comes during a period of crisis in Haiti, where 1.3 million people are displaced by violence. Earlier this summer, UN human rights chief Volker Türk said this crisis has 'plummeted to a new low' as gangs extend their reach, carrying out killings, rapes and kidnappings. In the first five months of this year, 316 people were kidnapped for ransom, according to United Nations figures, while 2,680 were killed. It is believed the gang who led the kidnapping of Ms Heraty are associates of the Viv Ansanm group, one of two major crime syndicates in Haiti sanctioned by the United Nations last month. Contact has previously been made between NPFS and the gang through intermediaries. Efforts are ongoing to secure the safe return of the hostages with Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris saying last week that different avenues at both political and diplomatic levels 'continue to be exhausted'.
