Wednesday, December 20, 2023, the general audience of Pope Francis in the Paul VI room at the Vatican, took place in particular in the presence of a group of young Haitians (David, Jocelyn, Annasteel, Falou and Jeff Antoine) who came to Italy with the missionary Sister Maddalena Boschetti ("fidei donum" missionary for more than 20 years in Haiti).

They presented Pope Francis with a wooden cross, made by Jeff Antoineff, illustrating the hope and suffering of the Haitian people, which Francis greeted with the words "Very beautiful, very beautiful."

Sister Maddalena Boschetti, recounts the meeting with Pope Francis after the general audience "The first emotion was the joy of being able to meet him and not alone, but with these wonderful young Haitians, who came to Italy to bear witness to the situation of their country and to bear witness through their presence and their friendship to their gratitude to the Church. They grew up with me, so for me they are my big Haitian family, the hundredfold sign that the Lord gives us even on this earth."

A gratitude that the young people also showed on the evening of December 20, at the Basilica of Saint Bartholomew on the Tiberian island in the center of Rome, sanctuary of the new martyrs, by bringing from Haiti the relics of Sister Luisa Dell'Orto , killed by gunfire in Port-au-Prince on June 25, 2022 https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-37003-icihaiti-insecurityan-italian-nun-shot-dead.html and https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37013-haiti-religion-tribute-of-pope-francis-to-sister-luisa-who-died-in-martyrdom-in-haiti-video.html

HL/ HaitiLibre