6 nuns kidnapped from bus in Haiti, Catholic organization says

Six Catholic nuns along with others traveling on a bus in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, were kidnapped Friday, a Catholic organization said.

The nuns were from the country's Congregation of the Sisters of St. Anne, according to a statement from P. Morachel Bonhomme, president of the Catholic Church-affiliated group Haitian Conference of the Religious.

He said "other occupants" of the bus were also taken and lamented "too many kidnappings" in Haiti are filling its people's souls with "sadness and fear."

"May the spirit of strength be given to the Sisters of St. Anne to find a way out of this terrible situation," Bonhomme said. "May the solidarity of the consecrated people of Haiti and the world help them overcome this difficult ordeal."

Though perpetrators have not been described or identified, the nation's kidnapping epidemic is attributed to gangs that have become emboldened amid the chaos that followed the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.

The country was also hobbled by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake in 2010 and Hurricane Matthew, a Category 4 storm that struck in 2016.

Gangs have taken over about taken over about 80% of the geography of Port-au-Prince, according to the nonprofit Assessment Capacities Project, which provides data to humanitarian groups.

Violence has pushed more than 165,000 Haitians to abandon their homeland, a United Nations report published in June said.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

"Gang attacks, extrajudicial killings, kidnappings and gender-based violence have become part of the daily lives of Haitians, forcing locals to flee their homes," it said.

In August, American nurse Alix Dorsainvil and her child were kidnapped and held captive for nearly two weeks before they were released. The day they were kidnapped, the State Department ordered nonemergency U.S. government employees and families to leave Haiti.

The State Department said the country had become too perilous "due to kidnapping, crime, civil unrest, and poor health care infrastructure." It designates Haiti as a "do not travel" country in an advisory to U.S. tourists.

In 2021, five priests and two nuns were kidnapped from a suburb of Port-au-Prince. Roman Catholic officials announced their release nearly three weeks later, but not before the Catholic Church temporarily closed down institutions to protest the abductions.

The U.N. said at least 1,694 people were killed, injured or kidnapped in one community alone, Bas-Artibonite, about 60 miles outside the capital, between 2022 and late 2023.