Food For The Poor photographer Benjamin Rusnak took this photograph during a Jan. 12, 2011, mass outside the remains of the Cathedral Notre Dame de l’Assomption (Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption) in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Those pictured were praying for loved ones lost during the Jan. 12, 2010, magnitude 7.0 earthquake that claimed more than 300,000 lives, according to the Haitian government.
Construction on the cathedral began in 1883 but insufficient funding meant it was not finished until 1914. It took another 14 years before the structure was consecrated in 1928. During the 2010 earthquake, the roof, upper walls and turrets facing west came down, killing the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Haiti, Archbishop Joseph Serge Miot, and numerous other members of the religious hierarchy.
The Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince is currently sponsoring an international design competition from which to choose a concept suitable look for a new cathedral.