FORT PIERCE | The 16th Haitian Charismatic Renewal Convention for the Diocese of Palm Beach Sept. 19-21, 2025, drew an estimated 400 Creole-speaking people to the Notre Dame Mission in Fort Pierce. The gathering was headed by Father Yves Geffrard, director of the diocesan Haitian Apostolate and administrator of the mission, along with a team of volunteers.
The featured speaker Saturday night was Father Marc Henry Siméon, spokesman for the conference of Catholic bishops in Haiti. His message focused on Isaiah 43:2, in which the Lord tells his people, “When you pass through waters, I will be with you; through rivers, you shall not be swept away. When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned, nor will flames consume you.”
Father Siméon stressed that God promised he would accompany his people through their difficulties. “That’s why you need to keep hope, knowing that hope is not naive. But it is trust, waiting and not really active,” he said. “That’s why we know that God will always realize his promise for us. I know that today’s message is very important, especially for the Haitian people.”
Notre Dame’s pastoral council chairwoman, Pauline Jean Simon, said she attends the annual conference to pray and feel the presence of God. She thanked Father Geffrard for bringing the Haitian community together, which is not always easy, getting “people from other countries to come here, from other states to come here to this event.”
“But at the end of the day, you’re not going to find one person that comes here tell you, ‘I didn’t find my grace,’ because a lot of time you come for grace, you come for healing. And by the time you leave, you feel the connection with God. That’s the purpose, and I think it always accomplishes its purpose,” Simon said.
For information about the diocese’s outreach to people of Haitian background, contact Notre Dame Catholic Mission (ndcc217@gmail.com; 772-466-9617), Our Lady of Perpetual Help Mission in Delray Beach (http://www.perpetualhelpmission.org; email perpetualhelp@att.net), Our Lady of Faith Haitian Center of St. Ann Parish in West Palm Beach (561-223-2762), and St. Philip Benizi Parish in Belle Glade (https://stphilipbenizi.com; 561-996-3870).
