Following the letter from Mgr Dumas to Laurent Saint-Cyr, President pro tempore and Coordinator of the Transitional Council (CPT), confirming that he "[...] accepts, with gravity and conscience, to conduct mediation [...] in order to prevent potential chaos at the end of the CPT's mandate on February 7, 2026." https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-46608-haiti-flash-mgr-dumas-agrees-to-lead-the-mediation-at-the-end-of-the-cpt-s-mandate.html Jean Henry Céant, former Prime Minister of Haiti (under Canadian sanctions https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-38184-haiti-flash-canada-sanctions-martelly-lamothe-and-ceant.html (https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-38274-haiti-justice-former-prime-minister-ceant-sanctioned-by-canada-organizes-his-defense.html), in a letter addressed to Bishop Dumas, a copy of which we obtained, expresses his opposition to the mediation of the Bishop of Anse-à-Veau-Miragoâne and Vice-President of the Haitian Episcopal Conference.

Letter from Me Jean Henry Céant to Mgr Dumas :

"January 11, 2026

His Excellency

Mgr Pierre André Dumas

Bishop of the Diocese of Anse-à-Veau and Miragoâne

Your Excellency,

It is with profound astonishment, mixed with sadness and dismay, that I learned of your letter addressed to the coordinator of the CPT, Mr. Laurent St-Cyr, in which you offer yourself as a mediator in the current crisis.

As a practicing Catholic, former Economic Advisor to the Catholic Church, and faithful member of his Church, but also as a political leader aware of the institutional and national implications of any public stance, I cannot hide from you that this initiative has deeply offended me. Never, in my memory as a believer, have I felt so disconcerted by the position of a prelate whom I have long respected, admired, and held in high esteem within the clergy. The Church remains for me a spiritual and moral refuge, and it is precisely in this place of consolation that this action has caused me such a deep wound.

I would like to recall, respectfully but without indulgence, the events of March 9, 2024, during which you co-signed a document condemning, without prior trial, fellow citizens deemed 'sanctioned' who had nonetheless placed their trust and veneration in you. I want to believe that this act was committed against your better judgment, but it nonetheless marked a painful rupture between you and a segment of the faithful, leaving a wound that remains raw within the Church community.

Today, by offering yourself as a mediator, you are entering a highly political arena, even though your past position places you, in effect, among the stakeholders. My point is not about the principle of mediation itself, which I consider necessary in any society in crisis, but about the credibility of the proposed mediator in the specific context the country is experiencing. Under these circumstances, allow me to express my doubts about your ability to embody the neutrality, moral integrity, and detachment essential for credible and truly calming mediation.

Far be it from me to deny your background or your spiritual role. However, I sincerely believe that your place, at this critical juncture, lies more with your political family than in a mediation process likely to exacerbate divisions and further expose our already fragile Church to the turmoil of the political arena. Any mediation intended to genuinely contribute to appeasement and inclusion should, in my view, be based on clear and certain guarantees of neutrality, collegiality, and distance from prior political commitments.

I am aware that the country's situation is unfolding within a context of intense international pressure and critical institutional deadlines. It is precisely to prevent these constraints from resulting in hasty, contested, or perceivedly imposed choices that I believe it is necessary to exercise extreme caution in the mediations undertaken, especially when they touch upon the core of institutional legitimacy and recall the processes that led to the establishment of the current CPT.

Therefore, in the best interests of the country and in order to preserve what remains of institutional credibility, I respectfully appeal to the discernment of the other members of the CPT to reject this mediation proposal, which is exclusionary and, as it stands, cannot contribute to a just and peaceful resolution of the current crisis.

Your Excellency, you still have an essential role to play: that of a pastor, a man of prayer, conscience, and repentance, capable of uniting people through humility and discretion rather than through self-promotion. A resolute return to prayer, confession, and the pursuit of forgiveness would, in my view, be an act of profound spirituality and reconciliation with the people of God.

I remain convinced that the faith of this people remains intact. It is precisely to preserve it that I express this position, with conviction but without hatred, with firmness but without denying the respect due to your august office.

May God enlighten you and grant you the necessary wisdom in these troubled times.

Amen.

Please accept, Your Excellency, the expression of my respectful consideration."

Jean Henry Céant

Former Acting Prime Minister of Haiti

CC :

To the members of the Episcopal Conference of Haiti

To the members of the Presidential Transitional Council

To Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé

HL/HaitiLibre