Haitian bishop: ‘Enough is enough’ following Aug. 23 massacre

By Tom Tracy - Florida Catholic

MIAMI | A shocking gang-related attack on a Haitian farming community last weekend drew a sharp reaction from a Haitian bishop currently living in South Florida following an act of mass murder and kidnapping. 

The Aug. 23 attack south of Haiti’s capital reportedly left as many as 47 people dead and some 50 more kidnapped, although the numbers, first reported by the United Nations, have not been fully verified.

The attack began late Aug. 23, when armed members of the Viv Ansanm gang coalition descended on Kenscoff, setting homes ablaze, killing residents and abducting dozens, according to The Associated Press. Kenscoff Mayor Jean Massillon blamed members of Viv Ansanm for the attack. One of the armed group’s leaders in Kenscoff, known as “Izo 2” or “Didi,” later threatened to kill the hostages if security forces killed any of his men.

The United Nations reported that 22 of those killed were executed in a church compound where they had sought shelter. Gangs have increasingly targeted Kenscoff because controlling the area would help them surround Pétion-Ville and control alternative routes connecting the capital with southern Haiti, according to the nonprofit Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED).

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The incident leaves a deep wound in a nation struggling for a modicum of peace and stability in recent months, even as much of Haiti remains in the grip of rival gang activity.

“Enough is enough. This has gone too far,” wrote Bishop Pierre-André Dumas, bishop of the Diocese of Anse-à-Veau-Miragoâne and vice president of the Haitian Bishops’ Conference. Bishop Dumas has been living in South Florida since 2024, when he was airlifted to Miami for treatment of severe burns suffered in an explosion in Port-au-Prince.

The massacre also drew a response from Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski, who told OSV News that the latest violence should prompt the United States to reconsider ending deportation protections for Haitians.

During his recovery, Bishop Dumas has become a familiar presence at St. Mary Cathedral and within South Florida’s Haitian Catholic community, with the support of the Archdiocese of Miami.

Bishop Dumas has been an outspoken critic of the political and social chaos enveloping his nation.

In a recent letter to the acting prime minister of Haiti following the Aug. 23 attack, Bishop Dumas expressed his grief and outrage at the situation and called for greater security for the Haitian population.

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“There are wounded and missing persons, families decimated, homes set ablaze. Even a church sheltering people displaced by violence was not spared,” the bishop wrote to Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé in a letter shared with the Florida Catholic of the Archdiocese of Miami.

“A Government governs first and foremost to protect its people. When communities warn that they are under threat, they must be protected before the massacre, not merely consoled after it,” the bishop wrote.

The mass abduction is believed to be one of the largest in Haiti in recent years and comes as the country hopes to hold its first general election in more than a decade.

Armed men control an estimated 70% of Port-au-Prince and swaths of land in Haiti’s central region and beyond, and gang violence has displaced a record 1.5 million people across Haiti.

More than 3,050 people were reported killed from January to June, with another 1,400 injured, according to UN statistics released Aug. 25.

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Before relocating to South Florida, Bishop Dumas worked closely with civil and government authorities in Haiti to address the country’s political crisis and repeatedly spoke out against the wave of kidnappings and gang violence. His advocacy intensified amid the instability that followed the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, as armed gangs expanded their influence and control across the country.

In his memo to the prime minister, the bishop called for an immediate national emergency security plan — one that is visible, coordinated, evaluated, and accompanied by clearly established responsibilities.

“In the name of our common humanity, in the name of the inviolable dignity of every Haitian woman and every Haitian man, in the name of the children who still have the right to grow up in their own country without learning to recognize the sound of gunfire before they have even learned to read, I solemnly appeal to your conscience and to the conscience of your entire Government,” Bishop Dumas wrote.

“Those responsible must be identified; the perpetrators and their accomplices must be prosecuted; and an end must be brought to this culture of impunity that kills our people almost as surely as the weapons themselves,” he added.

“And whenever threats of massacres are known in advance, the State must act in advance.”

On Aug. 25, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a statement saying the relentless gang attacks on communities and the loss of life underscore the alarming security conditions in Haiti and reinforce the urgent need to intensify Haitian and international security efforts to counter gangs.

“The Secretary-General reiterates his call for Haitian authorities to ensure that those responsible for such attacks are held accountable, including through the specialized judicial units, recently created with international support to investigate mass crimes.”

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