The parish priest of a Catholic missionary who has been kidnapped in Haiti has confirmed that efforts are underway to secure her release.
Gena Heraty was among nine people abducted from the orphanage where she was working near Port-au-Prince on Sunday.
Fr. John Kenny from Westport Parish in County Mayo told Premier that “negotiations are in a very delicate situation and we're all conscious that whatever efforts are being made are intense."
He added: "I know through the European diplomats out there, that the state of government in the local area is in disarray, and there's so much vying for leadership and authority in the community there, it's difficult to know how they're managing and who they're negotiating with. But I know that the orphanage she works with in the charity she works with, have been contacted.”
Ms. Heraty, who has worked in Haiti for decades, was kidnapped after the Sainte-Hélène orphanage was stormed by gang members. Fr. Kenny said she had fallen in love with Haiti and stayed there after going out on a short-term project in 1993.
After that, she had “found her other family in the community there, with the children," he added.
"She’s not one to seek the spotlight for herself. Any visits home have always been in connection with promoting her work and generating support and fundraising for the orphanage. The circumstances are very poverty stricken and there's children abandoned, not because parents don't want to keep their children, but because they just cannot. So people like Gena and others have been a God-send in that area to support those who are in such dire need.”
Since they heard the news on Monday, Fr. Kenny said the community in Westport Parish has gathered together to pray: “We’re very conscious at the moment that with negotiations ongoing, it's difficult for any of us to intervene in any other way except through prayer.
“Yesterday at Mass I mentioned how one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is courage, and certainly, courage is one of the things she needs and the people with her at this time, and courage leading to hope. And our hope is that this will be resolved and what we can do as a community, her family, her friends, and all the people back home is to pray that this will be resolved, and that this will come to a positive outcome.
“It’s incomprehensible why this goes on, that there's so much evil in people, the evil of just not loving our neighbour and respecting life.”