Diocese of Haiti sets date for bishop suffragan election
Episcopal News Service. June 30, 2011 [063011-06]
ENS staff
The Episcopal Diocese of Haiti will elect its first bishop suffragan on Aug. 5, according to a press release.
The bishop suffragan will assist Diocesan Bishop Jean Zaché Duracin as he serves the people and clergy of the diocese, numerically the largest diocese in the Episcopal Church. The new bishop suffragan will be headquartered in the Greater North Region of Haiti.
Duracin requested the position, and in late May his request received the canonically required consent (Canon III.11.10(b) (2)) of the majority of bishops with jurisdiction and diocesan standing committees, the press release from the Episcopal Church's Office of Public Affairs said.
Nominations are due by July 5 and a special commission created by Duracin to plan the election must offer a list of candidates no later than 22 days before the election (that is, July 13), according to the rules established for the election. Nominees must "canonically have lived and/or had known links with the Diocese of Haiti over the past 10 years," be at least 35 years old on Aug. 5, have been ordained at least 10 years and been in charge of "an organized mission or institution of the church," the rules say.
The consecration is set for Nov. 15.
For more information about the election, contact Bishop Clay Matthews of the church's Office of Pastoral Development at cmatthews@episcopalchurch.org.
The diocese continues to recover from the devastating magnitude-7 earthquake that struck just outside of Port-au-Prince, the country's capital, on Jan. 12, 2010.
The quake destroyed 71 percent of the diocese's churches, 50 percent of its primary schools and 80 percent of its secondary schools, according to details of an initial reconstruction plan that was released in November 2010.
Seventy-five percent of its higher-educational facilities must be demolished and 33 percent of the rectories, convents and guesthouses are seriously damaged and also must be destroyed. Also lost were the bishop's house and the diocese's income-producing condominium building.
Official rebuilding cost estimates will be based on plans submitted by approved architects after the not-yet-begun bidding process.