Nine friends and colleagues from the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois joined Father Delix Michel last month on a visit to his home Diocese of Les Gonaives, Haiti, to celebrate his silver jubilee of ordination.
Father Michel, parochial administrator of Ss. Peter and Paul, Alton, was ordained Jan. 24, 1988 in Gonaives. He served two years as a parochial vicar at St. Charles Borromeo, in Gonaives; then studied at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome for four years, to earn his licentiate in Sacred Scripture.
In 1994 he came to the Springfield diocese, where he has served as parochial administrator at St. Mark, Venice; St. Kevin, East Alton; Mother of Dolors, Vandalia; St. Joseph, Ramsey; and as chaplain at Vandalia Correctional Center, before his assignment to Ss. Peter and Paul in 2009.
Msgr. Carl Kemme, vicar general, represented Bishop Thomas John Paprocki on the group's week-long visit to Haiti. Deacon John Bretz from Ss. Peter and Paul and his wife, Jeannine, were in the group, as were five parishioners from East Alton, now members of St. Boniface in Edwardsville. Eleven Haitian-Americans from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and New York who are friends of Father Michel joined the group in Florida for the trip.
"We flew into the Dominican Republic from Florida, and then drove on very rough roads for over six hours to enter Haiti from the north," said Msgr. Kemme. "Our first stop on Friday was at the School of the Sacred Heart, that Father Delix started. There are 400 students in the school, which has eight grades. They all wear uniforms. We celebrated Mass at the school, and then the students provided us with entertainment and food."
On Sunday they went to Father Delix's home parish, Crevl Rieu, to celebrate his jubilee. "Over 20 priests were in his ordination class. One of his classmates is a bishop," said Msgr. Kemme.
"When Father celebrated his Jubilee Mass, it was four hours long, with lots of singing in it. It was hot and humid, but everyone at Mass was dressed up — women all wore dresses, men were in suits. Everyone stayed through the very end. No one left after Communion."
People who couldn't fit in the crowded church, stood outside, leaning in the windows, Msgr. Kemme said.
"One day we stopped in to see a family in their home. Father wanted us to see how poor people in Haiti live," said Deacon Bretz.
Just as their two vehicles were pulling up at the family's home for a visit "We saw a chicken going like crazy through a banana field to our right. Then we saw a rooster dart across the road, with two boys in full run behind it," Deacon Bretz said. "A few minutes later the boys emerged with four or five oranges and a chicken in their hands. They caught the chicken to give to Msgr. Kemme. But like at Thanksgiving in this country, Msgr. Kemme gave the chicken an official pardon, and it was set free."