User:Padre Alain Laverne

Alain-Mary Laverne

Who is Alain LAVERNE?

Birth

Born on August 31, 1970 at Sainte Thérèse Hospital in Hinche. In the middle of five girls, he is the only son  and the last child of Nicolas Ferdinand Laverne and Theresia Mardy Laverne (both are deceased)

Academic background

He began his classical studies in 1976 with the sisters of  Saint Joseph of Cluny in Thomonde to finish them in Port au Prince at College Frere  Adrien College of Sacred Heart in 1990.

In 1989, he was in Boston with his father Nicolas for the summer vacation at his sister's house Alberthe Laverne when he announced to his family that after finishing his classical studies in Haiti he was going to become a priest. Only son and Benjamin of his family, they were surprised but had promised to support him.

Upon his return to Haiti at the end of his summer vacation, he was highly recommended by his pastor, Reverend Father Lévéque Bien -Aimé to the Bishop of the diocese of Hinche, the most Reverend Leonard P. Laroche to be accepted as a seminarian of his diocese.

CALL OF ALAIN LAVERNE

After graduating in 1990, Alain spent a year at the Propédeutique de Hinche / Terre Cassée to reflect on his call and plans to become a priest under the direction of the Reverend Father Louis Faublas.

In 1991 he entered the Major Notre Dame Seminary of Haiti where he began the classical course of Philosophy. After completing these two years of philosophical studies, he decided to close his file. From there he ended up in Boston where he worked for two years for Reebok International.

In 1996 he was found in New Orleans, Louisiana, for his studies, where he obtained a Master's degree in Theology from Our Lady Major Seminary.

Desiring to work with Haitian immigrants in the Bahamas, at the invitation of his friend, Archbishop Aloysius A. Burke, s.j. originally from Jamaica, Alain went to the Bahamas where he was ordained a priest on June 22, 2000. He celebrated one of his first Masses at Saint Joseph parish in Thomonde on July 16, 2000.

His pastoral journey as a priest is described as follows:

●Vice Rector of  Saint Francis Cathedral - Nassau, Bahamas (2000-2001) under the pastorship of Msgr Simeon Roberts.

●Co-Administrator of the parishes of Saint Cecilia and Saint Thomas More, Nassau, Bahamas (2001-2005)

●Administrator of Saint Michael Parish, Freeport, Grand Bahama, The Bahamas (2005-2006)

●Pastor of Saint Bede the Venerable, Nassau-Bahamas (2006-2010)

●Parish Priest of Our Lady of the Holy Souls-Nassau, Bahamas (2010-2015)

Noted that Our Lady's Parish is the largest and oldest parish in the Archdiocese of Nassau. It is basically a Bahamian parish with a strong and very large Haitian community.

_SABBATICAL PERIOD

In 2003 padre Alain asked his grace  archbishop  Lawrence Burke to grant him a sabbatical period to take care of his father who was ill in Haiti. During this period he was appointed  Dominical Vicar at Notre Dame Cathedral in Port-au-Prince by ArchBishop Joseph Serge Miot, Archbishop of Port-au-Prince. After the death of his father Nicolas Laverne on October 7, 2003, he returned to the Bahamas to continue his priestly ministry.

In addition to his parish activities, Padre Alain also ran some agencies in the Archdiocese of Nassau, the Bahamas

●From 2001 to 2015 he was assigned to serve as the director of  Pontifical Mission Societies (OPM). This allowed him to travel all over the Bahamian archipelago and most of the Caribbean Islands such as Jamaica, Trinidad and  Tobago, Saint Lucia, Suriname, Curacao, French Guiana, Dominica,  and many others giving lectures and doing missionary training of the clergy, religious and people of God.

●After his ordination he received advanced courses in Canon Law under the supervision of Rev. Msgr. Dr. Andrew Anderson (Professor, University of St. Thomas - Miami, Florida) From 2001 to 2005 he was at the Archdiocese of Nassau Ecclesiastical Court where he held the position of Ecclesiastical Judge.

Padre Alain while attending Notre Dame Seminary Graduate school of Theology in New Orleans, Louisiana had received special training on Chaplaincy at Carraway Hospital in Birmingham Alabama during the summer of 1997 where he did one unit of Clinical Pastoral Education ( CPE) which allowed him to work as the Catholic Archdiocesan Chaplain for Margareth and Doctors Hospitals in Nassau. - Bahamas from 2001 to 2005

PADRE ALAIN AND SOCIAL MINISTRY (WORKS)

During his ministry Padre Alain accompanied several groups of young people and adults to pilgrimages and missions in Canada, USA, Rome (Italy) and his native Haiti. A few weeks after the earthquake of January 12, 2010 which severely ravaged Haiti, he accompanied a group of religious leaders of different confession of faith including laity as well to visit the ruins of the capital and also provide relief and humanitarian assistance to victims.

Padre Alain is truly dedicated to serving the poor in society.

He has organized summer camps for needy children in his community every year from 2000 to 2014. He supports and is an active member and advisor to several charities including: Korectho which is an organization formed by people who are from Thomonde, his hometown who live in the diaspora ( USA, Canada, Dominican republic and France) whose goals are to help their brothers and sisters in Thomonde. Currently, Corectho runs a primary school in Thomonde with a student population of more than 400.

Padre Alain has lived happy and unhappy events in his life that will remain for him truly unforgettable moments.

In April 1997 while studying at the Seminary in New Orleans, Padre Alain received a phone call from his cousin Carmel J. Bernadeau of Boston giving him the terrible news of the assassination in Miramar, Florida of four members of his family namely his mother Theresa, his sister Carmel and his two nieces Samantha and Sabrina. A drama that made him cried, suffered and will stay with him for the rest of his life.

MEETING SAINT POPE JOHN PAUL II

In July 2002, he travelled to Toronto, Canada to participate at World Youth Day where he concelebrated with great emotion and joy the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on the last day of the gathering with Pope John Paul II, a man who made him walk for more than an hour time to go to see his arrival in Haiti at the airport of Port-au-Prince during his visit in 1983.

WITHDRAWAL OF FATHER ALAIN LAVERNE FROM ACTIVE MINISTRY

In 2015 padre Alain withdrew from active ministry. He always keeps his attachment to Christ and his faith. He currently resides in New York city.

Alain Laverne is and will always remain a defender of human dignity, a modest and honest man, worthy and respectable.