Civil order has broken down and today no one travels safely within one of the largest dioceses of the Episcopal Church, according to the Rt. Rev. Jean Zache Duracin, Bishop of Haiti.

When the Rt. Rev. Catherine S. Roskam, Bishop suffragan of New York rose on June 19 during opening roll call of the Anglican Consultative Council meeting to state that the Episcopal Church was composed of more than just American dioceses, she sought to correct a common misconception even among Episcopalians. Nine of the 110 dioceses are located in countries not under U.S. rule.

In a letter sent to Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold, Bishop Duracin reported that within the past few weeks an administrator at one of the diocesan hospitals was kidnapped and held for ransom. A young public health worker at a nutrition program at Holy Cross Hospital was “murdered in a politically motivated killing.” Several priests have been robbed. One was shot. Church cars have been stolen. “We are all targets, including our visiting mission groups,” Bishop Duracin said. As a result, he advised against sending a fact-finding delegation that had planned to come.

Haiti with 79,497 baptized members is surpassed only by Texas and Virginia, according to the 2005 Episcopal Church Annual. Last week in Louisville, Ky., Executive Council passed a resolution renewing its support for the Haitian resolution adopted at its June 11-14, 2004 meeting in Burlington, Vt. In addition to again calling on the U.S. government to broker a negotiated peace among warring factions and grant asylum status to Haitian refugees until a truce is achieved, council also resolved to invite Guy Alexandre and Bishop Jean Zache Duracin to the next meeting of the council in Las Vegas, October 7-10 “as a way of informing the council on the situation in Haiti and offering various strategies and interventions that might appropriately respond to the political and human crisis in Haiti.”

More News of the Week, From the ACC Triennial:

· Status Quo at ACC Holds on Second Day

· Withdrawn Status of North Americans Noted

· ACC Opening Session Surprise

· ACC Meeting Opens with Dinner and Orientation

· Bishop Roskam to Serve in Two Capacities at Nottingham

Photos from Nottingham

· U.S., Canadian representatives seated apart

· The Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon, ACC secretary general

· The Rev. Canon Michael Burrows of Ireland

· New Zealand Bishop John C. Paterson, chairman of the ACC

· Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams

· Bishops Moxley and Roskam

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