Carroll connects with Haiti

By Kenny Keane, Globe staff writer
Posted Oct. 17, 2002

CARROLL - A visitor from the Parish Notre Dame of Lourdes in Laborde, which is near Les Caves, Haiti, spent the weekend of Sept. 21-22 at St. Lawrence Church in Carroll.

The guest was Father Ronald Legerme, whose parish started a relationship as a sister parish with St. Lawrence in October of 1989. Most recently, however, Father Legerme has been corresponding with Deacon Tim Murphy from St. Lawrence, who said he started contacting Father Legerme at some point in the fall of 2001 to make a personal contact with their sister parish and investigate the possibility of visiting there.

What he didn't know is that his Haitian friend had plans to visit the U.S. last month while flying out of and in to New York as part of a trip to Rome. This provided an opportunity for his visit to Carroll.

"It was just kind of a last minute deal. He has relatives in New York, so he stopped there on the way to Rome," Deacon Murphy said. "He e-mailed me to let me know he was available to come visit here while he was in the States.

"We said we'd love to have him. We took care of his airfare from New York and brought him out here."

Father Legerme was in Carroll from Saturday afternoon until Monday morning, preaching at four Masses during his visit. Deacon Murphy said Father Legerme provided a little biography on himself when he spoke at the Masses. He also conveyed the appreciation his people have for what they've received from the monthly collection taken at St. Lawrence, which was the main relationship with their sister parish in Haiti until now.

"I wanted to take it a step further, so that's why I contacted Father Legerme personally, and he ended up getting to visit," said Deacon Murphy, who also commented on what he learned from his friend's visit. "He talked about how they pray for us down there. They remember us every Sunday, and that was kind of neat to know."

Deacon Murphy said it was good to put a human face with their sister parish, and he is now looking at plans to visit Father Legerme's parish in a few months.

"I'm seriously thinking about this winter," he said. "It's the best time to visit the Caribbean."