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In the 10 months since Haiti's devastating earthquake buried nearly 300,000 people beneath rubble, the response from American Catholics for relief and rebuilding has been like none before, reported Dallas Bishop Kevin Farrell at the annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. But ongoing needs are massive and redevelopment of Haiti is proceeding slowly and with many obstacles, according to several bishops whose committees are involved in the U.S. church's ongoing assistance. Several bishops provided pieces of a comprehensive oral report about aspects of the church's efforts for Haiti. For example, Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski, who has long worked among the Haitian community in the United States and is chairman of the Haiti Advisory Group of the bishops' Subcommittee on the Church in Latin America, said the massive devastation in Haiti included the destruction of 70 parishes, dozens of schools, and several convents and centers of priestly formation. He asked, at the request of the Haitian bishops, that U.S. church groups use the system of church twinning to channel aid toward local parish communities. What a terrific idea. Trying to figure out a way to help. Talk to your pastor about twinning with a parish in Haiti. Sounds like a great time to start as well. Thanksgiving and Christmas are traditionally times of the year when folks start feeling more charitable. Acts 20:28 says, "Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock of which the holy Spirit has appointed you overseers, in which you tend the church of God that he acquired with his own blood."

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