The Episcopal Diocese of Haiti ( ht, Legliz Episkopal Ayiti or ''Dyosèz Ayiti'' french: Eglise Episcopale d'Haïti or ''Diocèse d'Haïti'') is the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

consisting of the entire territory of

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

. It is part of

Province 2 of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America Province 2 (II), also called the Atlantic Province is one of nine ecclesiastical provinces making up the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. It comprises the six dioceses of the State of New York, the two dioceses of the State of New ...

. Its

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

Holy Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

located in the corner of Ave. Mgr. Guilloux & Rue Pavée in downtown

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...

, has been destroyed six times, including in the

2010 Haiti earthquake A disaster, catastrophic Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest (department), Ouest department, a ...

. It is the largest diocese in the Episcopal Church, with 89,717 members reported in 2018. Jean-Zaché Duracin is the current bishop of Haiti. Ogé Beauvoir is bishop suffragan.

History

Holy Trinity

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

was established in

Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles in the Ne ...

, May 25, 1863. Its church has since been destroyed six times. The first church was set on fire by

Sylvain Salnave Sylvain Salnave (February 6, 1827 – January 15, 1870) was a Haitian general who served as the President of Haïti from 1867 to 1869. He was elected president after he led the overthrow of President Fabre Geffrard. During his term there were cons ...

in 1866; possibly the second, and definitely the third, were destroyed by fire in 1873; yet another by fire on July 4, 1888; and a fifth by fire on July 5, 1908. Construction of the sixth Holy Trinity began in 1924. In 1864, the first

Diocesan Synod In the Anglican Communion, the model of government is the 'Bishop in Synod', meaning that a diocese is governed by a bishop acting with the advice and consent of representatives of the clergy and laity of the diocese. In much of the Communion the b ...

was held. Then known as the Haitian Apostolic Orthodox Church, it was recognized as a member of the

in 1870. The Diocese of Haiti formally joined

The Episcopal Church The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine Ecclesiastical provinces and dioces ...

of the United States on May 15, 1875. Nearly a century later, Luc Garnier was elected as the first Haitian-born bishop of the diocese.

2010 earthquake

The

destroyed much of the infrastructure of the diocese, including Holy Trinity Cathedral and its school, the diocesan offices, the Couvent Sainte Marguerite, the College Saint Pierre, at least four of the diocese's more than 200 schools, and the home of Duracin and his injured wife. Duracin and the church leadership set up a camp in Port-au-Prince "the size of a football field" where destitute and injured Haitians could seek refuge.

Episcopal Relief and Development Episcopal Relief & Development is an international relief and development agency of the Episcopal Church. It was established in 1940 as the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief. Episcopal Relief and Development works in approximately 40 coun ...

began working with the

Episcopal Diocese of the Dominican Republic The Episcopal Diocese of the Dominican Republic ( es, Iglesia Episcopal Dominicana) is the diocese of the Anglican Communion which covers all of the Dominican Republic. It is in Province IX of The Episcopal Church and includes about 60 parishes. ...

to help with Haitians who cross the border, and with

IMA World Health IMA World Health is an international, nonprofit health care service organization. The faith-based charity offers sustainable and efficient solutions to health-related problems in the developing world. IMA's stated purpose is to "provide health c ...

to medical help to the wounded around Port-au-Prince. Prior to the earthquake the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti's Development Office had trained a network of 28 community development workers for disaster management. Since the quake, these development agents completed initial needs assessments for their own communities. Two weeks after the quake the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti and Episcopal Relief & Development were helping over 25,000 survivors in 23 camps. Many of the camps are located at the sites of Episcopal churches and schools and range in size from a few hundred people to approximately 8000. Six of the camps inhabited by more than 15,000 survivors were not accessible by vehicles and were supplied by helicopter. Sanitation and clean water facilities were constructed for many of the camps.Episcopal Relief & Development Collaborating on Earthquake Response in Haiti
Updated February 4, 2010

Bishops

James Theodore Holly James Theodore Augustus Holly (3 October 1829 in Washington, D.C. – 13 March 1911 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti) was the first African-American bishop in the Protestant Episcopal church, and spent most of his episcopal career as missionary bishop of ...

(1874–1911) # Harry Roberts Carson (1923–43)
*

Spence Burton Spence Burton (4 October 1881 - 15 February 1966) was an Anglican bishop in the mid 20th century and the first American to be consecrated a bishop in the Church of England. Biography Born on 4 October 1881 in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of Caspa ...

(Suffragan) (1939–1942) # C. Alfred Voegeli (1943–1971) # Luc Garnier (1971–1993) # Jean-Zaché Duracin (1994–Present)
* Ogé Beauvoir (2012–Present) (Suffragan)

References

External links

Eglise Episcopale D'Haïti
— official website

c. 1815 liturgical text for use by this church, digitized by Richard Mammana

Anglican Church liturgical materials in Kreyol digitized by Jean Fils Chery and Richard Mammana {{DEFAULTSORT:Episcopal Diocese Of Haiti 1864 establishments in Haiti Haiti, Episcopal Diocese of Anglican dioceses established in the 19th century

Port-au-Prince Protestantism in Haiti Religious organizations established in 1864 Province 2 of the Episcopal Church (United States)