Florida Catholic | Divine Mercy Haitian Mission

Workmen install cross at Divine Mercy Haitian Mission.

MARLENE QUARONI | FC
Workers prepare to install a stainless steel cross on top of Divine Mercy Haitian Mission in Ft. Lauderdale.

New cross boosts profile of Haitian mission

Divine Mercy Haitian Mission begins their 25th anniversary celebration with installation of a 200-pound stainless steel cross.

MARLENE QUARONI | FLORIDA CATHOLIC CORRESPONDENT

Published: 01.11.08

FORT LAUDERDALE | Members of Divine Mercy Haitian Mission received an early Christmas present this year when a 9-by-4-foot, 200-pound, stainless steel cross was raised to fill the empty steeple of their inner-city church on Christmas Eve. The mission was without a cross for the entire 25 years of its existence.

“The cross is a symbol that we are changing this crime-ridden neighborhood,” said Father Robes Charles, who took over as pastor of the mission three years ago.

Father Charles blessed the cross with incense and holy water before a crane hoisted it 32 feet to the steeple. About 100 church members sang hymns in Creole, pounded drums and shouted hallelujahs as they watched. “Now, people will know this is a church, not a warehouse,” said Father Charles, as the mission started its silver-anniversary year.

Thanks to Sterling Steel Fabricators, the cross was finished in time for Christmas.

“It took nine men working full time to finish the cross on time for Christmas,” said Bryan Bennett, vice president of the West Palm Beach-based company. “Normally, this would have taken a couple of weeks, but we pulled this off in five days. They were so thrilled, you’d have thought we had given them a check for $10 million.”

The Archdiocese of Miami established Divine Mercy Mission in 1983 in a smaller building nearby. The mission was moved to its current site 15 years ago.

When Father Charles arrived at the mission, he found drug addicts sleeping on the property, an adjacent lot filled with trash, and windows in the back of the church building bearing bullet holes — kept there as a reminder of the past. The church had a mildew-stained floor, an overworked 15,000-BTU air-conditioning system in a building that required 55,000 BTU’s, no fire alarm and many safety violations.

“On Palm Sunday 2005, thieves stole three cars while worshippers prayed inside,” Father Charles said.

Mission youths created a drum line to make their presence felt, said the priest. “The kids would practice outside. They woke up the drug addicts.”

After the cross-raising, the participants continued their celebration as they paraded down Sixth Avenue to the beat of the drums, once again making their presence known.

Since Father Charles’ arrival, the church has had a half-million-dollar face-lift. The adjacent trash lot is now a stone-paved prayer patio with statues of saints, stone benches and colorful landscaping. The patio also serves as a meeting place for the 37 ministries at the mission, since the church building is often overcrowded.

One day, Father Charles hopes a new, bigger church will rise on another empty lot across the street. “We have room for about 350 people. We want to build a church for 1,000 people,” he said.

One thousand people were expected for Christmas Eve Mass. As they did at past Christmas Eve Masses, church members set up seats outside the church and screens to view the Mass because of the overflowing crowd.

Father Charles said that many Haitians who once attended Protestant and evangelical churches are coming to Divine Mercy.

“In the past, they couldn’t find a Catholic church,” he said. “We also have people who have moved far away, like Orlando and Jacksonville, who come back to visit.”

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New cross boosts profile of Haitian mission

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