Norwich Diocese resumes trips to Haiti following violence

Published: 2004-07-13

NORWICH, Conn. (CNS) -- The Diocese of Norwich, which operates a mission house in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, has resumed parish trips to the Caribbean nation, according to Emily Smack, Norwich diocesan director of Haitian ministries. The Connecticut diocese, which started up the trips again in April, was among a number of U.S. church entities that stopped such visits for awhile because of the violence and chaos that led to -- and followed -- the Feb. 29 ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. A group from St. Mark's Parish in Westbrook and one from St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, on the University of Connecticut campus in Storrs, recently returned from a 10-day trip to Haiti. Jesuit Father Gerry McKeon, a chaplain at the University of Connecticut and associate parochial vicar at St. Thomas Aquinas, said that during the trip he and seven university students stayed at the Norwich Mission House and spent two days in Jeremie, Haiti.

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