Haitian cathedral destroyed

I received an email earlier today, announcing that the Episcopal cathedral in Haiti "is gone." That was a secondhand report, but I've now seen it confirmed in a news article at the Episcopal Church website.

I visited that cathedral two years ago. It was adorned with beautiful folk-style art. Here are some photos. The destruction of art is by no means the most important measure of the tragedy—for that we have to look to the destruction of homes and bodies. But since I haven't yet heard about how anyone I know personally was impacted by the earthquake, the announcement of the destruction of the cathedral has been the thing that, thus far at least, has made the tragedy hit closest to home for me. It would be good if this is the closest the tragedy comes to hitting me personally, because it would mean that the people I know survived relatively unscathed. (My contacts lived on an island off the mainland, and I think there's a good chance the damage there will be minimal.)

All photos taken by Grace Camblos.