Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI
Monday, 14 July 2025
MM
Pic Makaya (Agenzia Fides) – On the feast day of Saint Camillus of Lellis, founder of the Order of the Ministers of the Sick (MI), Father Massimo Miraglio, parish priest of the small community of Pourcine Pic-Makaya, shared with Fides that this will also be an important day for the entire Camillian religious family in Haiti, which always strives to help those most in need.”This year, too, we Camillians in Haiti want to live the feast of Saint Camillus with great hope and the desire to continue to witness to the merciful love for the sick that our Father and Founder left us as a legacy, not only spiritually but also in our active life, in our daily lives,” he emphasized.”On this occasion,” the missionary added, “there will be no shortage of initiatives in favor of the poor and sick, with food distributions and the hospital’s open doors, ready to welcome all those in need.””Unfortunately, the country has been in an extremely difficult situation for years, and the work is becoming more complicated every day,” Father Massimo said, referring to the catastrophic humanitarian situation the island has been experiencing for years (see Fides, 17/6/2025). My brothers and sisters in Port-au-Prince, who have been running the St. Camillus Hospital with its foyer for disabled children for years, are also feeling this. Despite a thousand difficulties, they manage to keep it open and welcome sick and poor people every day who are looking for a solution and the means to continue.”Working in Port-au-Prince and in many areas of the country has become truly difficult today, because of the gangs that control the territory and in the face of a state that no longer exists, a police force, and an army that are powerless against the strength and violence of the gangs, even in Jeremie,” he reports.”Especially in the parish of Pic Makaya, we are trying to continue our work and, following the example of Saint Camillus, we want to be especially close to the poorest and sickest people. All the projects we carry out in the parish always have the goal of preserving the population and supporting it with various activities. Our commitment to healthcare certainly remains a priority, but so too is the aqueduct, which will allow us to bring water to the center of the country and control it, and the effort to make the roads and mule tracks more accessible to avoid a whole series of accidents that systematically occur. School is another area in which we are strongly involved. It is a reference point for the education of children and young people, and for adults, where we can share information and practice prevention (see Fides, 15/4/2025). And we dream of soon being able to open a clinic for the population.” “This is truly the dream we have,” emphasizes the missionary, “to soon be able to begin construction of the St. Camillus Outpatient Clinic, where we can accommodate the sick. It won’t be a large clinic, but rather an emergency room, a place where the people in the area—currently around 4,000/5,000 people, who will be a potential catchment area—can receive the minimum of necessary, initial treatment. It would be a truly important point of contact that would fundamentally change the lives of the people in this area.””At the moment,” Father Massimo concludes, “we are unfortunately forced to continue with a very small informal clinic in my rectory, which is not even sufficient to meet the basic needs of the population.” “We hope that, through the intercession of St. Camillus, we will be able to establish this outpatient clinic next year, which will allow us to assist the sick and also bear witness to the love that St. Camillus passed on to us,” he affirms. (AP) (Agenzia Fides, 14/7/2025)
MM
Share: