Viatorian center in ruins; 400 Haitian refugees wait

A retreat center run by the Viatorian community in Port-au-Prince lies in ruins.

"From what I'm learning, there are 400 people, refugees, just waiting there, behind where the retreat center used to be," the Rev. Mark Francis, superior general of the Worldwide Viatorian Community, said Thursday from the Viatorian Province Center in Arlington Heights.

The 40 priests and brothers who live and work in Haiti all survived the quake, Francis said. The center's receptionist did not.

For more than 40 years the Clerics of St. Viator have served Haiti, after being invited by the Vatican to teach at the retreat center and a seminary, both started by Jesuits.

The Villa Manrése in Port-au-Prince houses the busy Sentre Saint-Viateur, or St. Viator Center.

"It was one of the main pastoral centers," says Francis, a Wheeling native. "Everyone knew about it. Thousands of people came through its doors each year."

The retreat center offered programs in French and Creole, from religious instruction and formation to parenting and support groups. It is on a hill overlooking the city.

"I think they just feel safer there," he added, referring to the hundreds of refugees huddled behind the ruins.

"There is no food, no water, no medical attention, or sanitary conditions, just relief from all the danger in the center of the city," he added.

As head of the worldwide congregation and based in Rome, Francis oversees 600 priests and brothers, as well as 271 lay associates, serving in 16 countries. He is staying at the Arlington Heights province center through January.

North of Port-au-Prince near Gonaives, the Viatorian community runs elementary schools, a high school and a women's training center, plus a parish and mission chapels in the countryside.

None of those were seriously damaged, he added.

Currently, they are mobilizing relief help from other sectors of the Viatorian community. They are waiting until order has been restored before sending in help.

Francis said the Viatorians would like to rebuild the retreat center, but the question of funding its construction remains unclear.

"We continue to remain committed to the people of Haiti," Francis said. "Our community is well established here and our numbers of religious vocations are growing."