Following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse last summer, Haiti has been led by Acting President and Prime Minister Ariel Henry. A presidential election would typically have been held, and a new president sworn in, on February 7—but no election has been scheduled, fostering a national crisis.

“The moment in which we are living is extremely serious and particularly decisive at this irreversible turning point of our history,” Haiti’s bishops warned. “What is at stake is our present and our future, and therefore our existence itself as a people, as a nation, as a state. We must make courageous and effective decisions.”

The Caribbean nation of 11.2 million (map) is 67% Catholic and 27% Protestant.