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Missionary in Haiti: ‘Violence cannot discourage us’
Maddalena Boschetti, a fidei donum missionary in Haiti since 2002, tells Vatican News how remaining in the violence-stricken country and supporting those in need when all hope seems lost is a way to respond to the violence itself.
By Benedetta Capelli and Guglielmo Gallone
“The country has not improved; the country is at war. There are open fronts, there are rear areas, and there is an entire population that is suffering and trying to adapt to an increasingly complicated daily life.”
Maddalena Boschetti, a lay fidei donum missionary in Haiti since 2002, shares what life is like in the country, where violence by armed gangs continues to spread and reshape the daily lives of the population.
Going to work, travelling, praying, and obtaining food have become increasingly difficult challenges, while rising prices are worsening an already dramatic humanitarian situation.
The Kenscoff massacre
The massacre in Kenscoff, in the hills on the outskirts of the capital Port-au-Prince, has once again brought Haiti to the attention of the international community.
In the attack carried out in the night between August 23 and 24, 47 people were killed and 22 were wounded, while more than 50 others were reportedly kidnapped. According to CNN at least 13 children and women were then released.
Many children were among the victims when armed men stormed homes and attacked civilians, even killing some people who had sought refuge in a church.
On Sunday, at the end of the Angelus in Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo XIV made a renewed appeal for the country:
“I express my prayerful closeness to the victims and their families, and I ask that all the hostages be released without delay. I make an earnest appeal to all those responsible to make a concrete commitment to guaranteeing the safety of the population and putting an end to every form of violence.”
The echo of Pope Leo XIV’s words
In Haiti, the Pope’s words were welcomed as “a comfort for all of us, not only for the missionaries, but also for ordinary people and the faithful.”
Yet what happened at Kenscoff, Boschetti warns, is anything but an isolated incident.
The massacre “lifted the veil for a moment” on a tragedy that continues even when Haiti disappears from the news and the media, she continued. “There is a steady trickle of deaths, continuous violence, killings, kidnappings, and sexual violence.”
The figures convey the scale of the crisis of this internal war that causes thousands of victims. According to the latest report from the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti, between April and June 2026, more than 1,400 people were killed and around 656 wounded as a result of the violence. The number of internally displaced people has exceeded 1.4 million.
Gangs still control large parts of Port-au-Prince, and their pressure is spreading to other areas of the country.
Operations by security forces have enabled them to regain control of some parts of the capital, but, the missionary explains, the retreat of armed groups from some neighborhoods has been accompanied by their advance into the country’s interior.
“There are several open fronts,” from the central region to the Artibonite department, and into the northern and southern areas, not to mention the capital, Port-au-Prince, which has been besieged by gangs for years.
The gangs’ power
Even travelling around the country means having to contend with the power of the gangs. Armed groups have established checkpoints on the roads, checking documents and phones and imposing tolls.
“It is extremely dangerous and unsafe to travel,” says Boschetti, who for the past two years has avoided travelling to the capital.
And where the gangs are not present, there remains the fragility of an almost absent state. “There are no public security forces,” she explains, while corruption and weak institutions make life even more difficult for communities.
Against this backdrop, the prospect of returning to the polls also remains uncertain. The transitional government is supposed to lead Haiti toward new elections, but the essential prerequisite, the missionary stresses, is the restoration of security.
“People want change, but at the same time they are not encouraged; they have no confidence,” Boschetti continued.
In a country where the state struggles to reach its people, the Church continues instead to be a point of reference. In the communities, “the parish priest is always a point of reference for goodness, someone people turn to for help,” she highlighted.
A response to the violence
This is why remaining becomes, in itself, a response to violence.
“The fact that we are present is our strength,” Boschetti says, explaining how they live the daily life of the population and remain alongside those most in need when other possibilities seem to have disappeared.
“Violence cannot discourage a missionary. It is precisely where there is the greatest need that our presence is most necessary,” she insisted.
In a Haiti marked by gangs and fear, this choice takes on the concrete meaning of not abandoning a population that continues to ask for security, peace, and the possibility of returning to a normal life.
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