Father Andre Sylvestre--Part II

Photo by John Carroll

The last time I saw Father Andre was in May when he was taking me to the airport in Cap Haitien. I had been working in his medical clinic in Robillard for the previous three weeks and was returning to Peoria. 

And for some strange reason, on the way to the airport, we were talking about Father’s death. He told me that when he dies he will leave his orphans as "orphaned twice" and I could tell he felt very bad about this. I had learned over the years that of all of Father’s projects in Robillard, his 36 orphans in his orphanage was the undertaking that was closest to his heart. I had no idea in May that the next time I would be in Robillard, Father’s orphans would indeed be orphans again. 

And in May during our conversation, when I asked Father where he would be buried, he replied in a cemetery in Cap where the priests of the Cap Haitien Archdiocese are buried. 

Father always loaned me his Natcom wifi hotspot when I come to Robillard. On this trip to the airport, I kidded him and asked him when he died, would he take the hotspot to the grave with him so I could not use it. He laughed very hard over my very stupid joke.  

I remember exactly where we were that day in May when we got closer to the airport and I told Father of Maria’s and my respect for him. He was a Haitian man with two advanced academic degrees from universities in the United States but still chose to live his life in Haiti serving his people in a very poor rural parish. I told him how much we admired him for living his life like that. He quietly said “thank you.” 

On July 7, President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in his home in Port-au-Prince. And not long after on the day of Moise's funeral in the Cap Haitien, there was serious unrest and Father barely made it to the Cap Haitien airport for his flight to the States. He remained in the States for six weeks--spending time with his brother and obtaining immunizations against Covid. I was able to keep in touch with Father periodically during the summer until he returned to Robillard on August 30.  

His parish at Notre Dame was so glad to have Father back. They put up innocent homemade cards around the rectory, welcoming their priest back. 

And now he is gone again. 

The last several weeks, the parish has been preparing for Father's funeral in Cap. His office in the rectory is filled with hundreds of books in multiple different languages and even has a few books that he wrote. And they are slowly being cleared out.  

Since Father's murder, small delegations of visiting priests have come to the rectory to share their condolences. And the church has held multiple different services to remember Father. Singing, scripture reading, and wailing have come from inside the building almost every day.  

In the dirt streets of Robillard leading up to the church, banners have been painted and hung high over the streets weighted down by plastic bottles filled with dirt. And these banners eulogize Father by stating his soul is not gone. 

In a very Haitian way several days ago, a man brought a bag of cement and mixed it by hand right in front of the church. With the fresh cement he built a nice wall about 15 feet long and 5 feet high and he painted it white. And a day or two later, when the cement completely dried, a local artist spent much of the day painting a portrait of Father Andre on the new wall. And in English, over Father’s left shoulder, the artist painted--“Gone but not forgotten". 

Photo by John Carroll

John A. Carroll, MD

www.haitianhearts.org