Mgr Romélus, Bishop Emeritus of Jérémie in Haiti was invited Tuesday by Catholic Relief Services to present his new book "Espérer contre toute espérance" (Hope against all hope).

To more than 80 years, Mgr. Romélus, is revealed for the first time in "Espérer contre toute espérance", a book of memories. Pastor indefatigable, promoter of many social programs and of educational structures, the bishop of Jérémie has never stopped working.

Valuable witness of the contemporary history of Haiti, the man did not hesitate, throughout his career, to take a stand against the powers in place. Without thinking about entering politics. "They called me several times to be President... It was not my mission," he said with a backhander "I always used to do the work that Christ did : release the oppressed, to open the blind eyes, to bring the good news of the liberation."

Nearly three years after the earthquake of January 12, 2010, Mgr. Romélus exhorts his people, once again, to maintain hope. Yet the picture is dark, problems of access to drinking water, delay in reconstruction programs, political tensions... Asked about the situation, the bishop prefers to focus on advanced : "the Caritas helped us rebuild homes, and the construction of public buildings begins."

Bishop Romélus not fall for all that in otherworldliness. Convinced that Haitians must take their destiny in hand, he deplores the divisions that undermine its people. "Haitians are wonderful when they unite !" he insists, noting that the small island helped to write the great story : "Haiti has not ony take its independence, it showed the way, in particulat to the Latin America countries." Allow the younger generation to know its past to recover confidence in the future, this is one of the ambitions of the book of the Bishop Emeritus of Jérémie.

In this life of toil at the service of the poor (for which he received the European Award of Human Rights and has been proposed several times for the Nobel Peace) Mgr Romélus has escaped no less than ten assassination attempts...

It is difficult to find a better witness of the hope.

HL/ Marina Bellot