At Saint Joseph Parish, our Haiti Twinning Ministry is led by committed parishioners who desire to support an international Holy Cross community in need.

In 2016, our parish began the work of initiating a twinning relationship with Mary Immaculate Parish in Platon, Haiti, which is part of the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Province and is shepherded by Rev. Charles Mehu, C.S.C.

The people of Mary Immaculate Parish and School, like many in Haiti, face dire economic and political hardships. Inflation has skyrocketed. Gangs, violence, theft, and kidnappings are common. Fear, hunger, and despair prevail.

Our parish has fundraised for, prayed for, and gotten to encounter representatives of Mary Immaculate. The prayers have been reciprocated, and for this relationship we are grateful!

Collections & Fundraisers

Every year, approaching the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Saint Joseph parishioners join in prayer for the people of Haiti with a novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, who is the patroness of Haiti. Our parish then takes up a collection on this feast day honoring the patron of Mary Immaculate Parish. These funds have been used to contribute towards a library for Mary Immaculate School and other needs of the parish.

During Lent, Saint Joseph Grade School students and families are invited to participate in a coin box collection, a way for them to unite their Lenten almsgiving practice with the Holy Cross family around the world. With the additional funds, Mary Immaculate School hoped to provide a fifth hot meal each week to their students. SJGS students also donate funds for a dress-down day each year.

As an example of the impact of this giving, in 2023, our parish and school efforts raised over $6,134, which is three times more than Haiti’s 2023 per capita GDP. The small sacrifices of families, students, and parishioners add up, allowing Mary Immaculate to meet the material needs of their students and parishioners.

Encounters

After two years of praying for Mary Immaculate during Masses and raising funds, Saint Joseph was able to send a group to visit Haiti in 2018 (click here to see a short video summary). The visit was a cultural exchange, surely, but also one of interpersonal encounter, an opportunity for Saint Joseph parishioners and Mary Immaculate parishioners to meet, greet, pray, and share in the model set by Jesus’s earthly ministry. In return, Mary Immaculate’s pastor, Fr. Mehu, visited Saint Joseph later in the year to introduce himself and his parish to the wider St. Joe community.

Although the disruptions from the pandemic and Haiti’s internal political turmoil have prevented additional trips, our two Holy Cross parishes have maintained our connection by exchanging photos and videos. These have provided windows into each other's daily lives, expressions of faith, and communal celebrations that are unique to our communities.

When Haitian Holy Cross priest Rev. Jean-Vital Blaise, C.S.C., came to South Bend in August 2023 to improve his English language skills, he made sure to stop by Saint Joseph. With a little coordination from the Holy Cross Mission Center, he introduced himself at a meeting of our parish Haiti Committee and then arranged to present to the students at Saint Joseph Grade School. Several hundred kindergarteners through fifth graders packed into an assembly hall to learn about Fr. Jean-Vital’s home country and practice the Our Father in Haitian Kreyol. What a gift from Fr. Jean-Vital!

Our twinning initiative aims for something much more expansive than a simple one-way financial distribution. These experiences help build what Pope Francis calls “cultures of encounter.” In contrast to a “culture of indifference,” the culture of encounter asks us to direct our minds and our hearts to another person or community, seeing them through the eyes of Christ. Thus, the monetary donation from one community to another becomes just one piece of a broader relationship between Holy Cross communities.