Hammond Star: Deacon receives help from above

Hammond Star: Deacon receives help from above

Hammond Star
7/16/2010

Brother Eduardo Logiste, a native of the Domincan Republic who serves as a deacon at Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Hammond, recently received some help from a bishop and a U.S. senator.

Brother Eduardo was preparing for his ordination into the priesthood on July 10 and invited his family to attend this extraordinary event.

Donations from the Holy Ghost congregation and students from St. Thomas Aquinas Regional Catholic High School covered the travel expenses, but since his sisters lived in the Dominican Republic and his parents in Haiti, they were denied travel Visas to the United States.

That’s when Holy Ghost Church Pastor Fr. Ed Everitt, O.P., and the church’s Parish Council started the bureaucratic wheel turning.

“While we understand the situation in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, we felt that it was only fair and just to have Brother Eduardo’s family join him as he takes his solemn vows,” Fr. Everitt said. “That’s when our community sprang into action.”

The first call was to Baton Rouge Bishop Robert Muench, who immediately sent a letter to Mike Schimmel, the U.S. Consul General of the Dominican Republic. The bishop asked Consul General to reconsider the decision for the travel visas for Brother Eduardo’s sisters. He outlined the travel schedule and assured tthat the sisters would be returning to Santo Domingo on July 21.

U.S. Sen. David Vitter was contacted as well.

“This was a situation where we had someone making a commitment to helping his fellow man as a priest, and his family would not be able to share in this major event in his life,” Vitter said. “Following requests from Bishop Muench and me, I am happy to report that Consul General Schimmel re-interviewed Brother Eduardo’s sisters and the visas were issued on June 16.”

Brother Educardo’s two sisters, Ms. Monica Medina and Ms. Cruz Maria Feliz, were allowed to join him in San Antonio, Texas, for his ordination as a Dominican priest.

Brother Eduardo was overwhelmed by the support, but on July 7, he learned the disappointing news that his parents in Haiti were denied reconsideration.

“While I am extremely disappointed that my parents will not be here, I am looking at the bright side of the issue. I am overjoyed as to the way people in Hammond, Baton Rogue and Washington, DC, responded to my situation for my sisters,” Brother Eduardo said. “This has a happy ending, and I will always remember and be thankful for the financial and spiritual support from the people of Holy Ghost, St. Thomas Aquinas and the Hammond community. Without a doubt, prayer does work, but it also helps to have the help of a bishop and a U.S. senator.”

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