Archbishop Joseph Serge-Miot was reported dead after the Tuesday earthquake that measured 7.0 on the Richter scale.

``Port-au-Prince is totally devastated. . . . The archbishop's office, all of the big churches, all of the seminaries have been reduced to rubble. The same luck for the ministry buildings, the Presidential Palace, the schools,'' Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Vatican's top diplomatic official in Haiti, told the Vatican's Fides news agency.

The Port-au-Prince cathedral, a large 18th-century building with stained glass windows that was popular with tourists for its architecture, also collapsed during the earthquake.

``The parish priest of the cathedral, who was spared, told me that the archbishop of Port-au-Prince would have died under the rubble, together with hundreds of seminarians and priests that are under the ruins,'' Auza said.

Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI appeals for aid

Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI is appealing for aid for victims of the earthquake that devastated Haiti and killed the archbishop of the Port-au-Prince Archdiocese.

Today in his general audience, the Pope also called for prayers for victims of the "dramatic situation currently being experienced in Haiti."

"My thoughts go in particular to the population hit just a few hours ago by a devastating earthquake which has caused serious loss of human life, large numbers of homeless and missing people, and vast material damage," he said.

The Pontiff invited "everyone to join my prayers to the Lord for the victims of this catastrophe and for those who mourn their loss."

He continued: "I give assurances of my spiritual closeness to people who have lost their homes and to everyone who, in various ways, has been affected by this terrible calamity, imploring God to bring them consolation and relief in their suffering.

"I appeal to the generosity of all people so that these our brothers and sisters who are experiencing a moment of need and suffering may not lack our concrete solidarity and the effective support of the international community."

The Holy Father affirmed that the "Catholic Church will not fail to move immediately, through her charitable institutions, to meet the most immediate needs of the population."

Father Andre Siohan, a missionary of the French St. Jacques Society, e-mailed the Missionary International Service News Agency a few hours after the quake, which was centered less than 10 miles from Port-au-Prince, the country's capital.

"Nou atè nèt," the priest wrote, which means in Creole, "We are on our knees."

"I went to the city center this morning to visit the other religious communities," he said. "The area is completely devastated and there are thousands of victims."

"It is terrible," Father Siohan said.

The missionaries reported finding the lifeless body of the 61-year-old archbishop under the rubble. The Haitian-born prelate had been leading the archdiocese since 1997. The report noted that there was also no sign of the vicar general, Monsignor Seguiranno Benoit.

CNN reports, " Rescue workers struggled to clear rubble and bodies Wednesday from the streets of Haiti's "flattened" capital, where a government official said the death toll from Tuesday's 7.0-magnitude earthquake may exceed 100,000."

Emergency - Death toll may exceed 100,000

Father Pierre Le Beller, another missionary of the society, told the news agency, "Our confreres, some seminarians, friends and neighbors of the Pacot area are currently sheltered in tents in the gardens of our house, damaged by the quake."

"We fear an extremely elevated number of injured," he said.

The missionary, who served 30 years in Haiti but is currently in France, explained that due to poor hospital services in the country, "the real emergency is that of treating" the wounded.

He continued: "The accounts are tragic, screams and crying can be heard among the injured.

"We ask ourselves how many people are trapped under the rubble. They told us that the cathedral collapsed, as also the national palace and the five-story U.N. building."

The missionary news agency reported that Father Le Beller had "difficulty continuing," as he spoke about the destruction of the Caritas Center that he personally founded for working with street children.

Father Siohan affirmed: "We are all well, but some of our seminarians are missing.

"Some are injured, but some are maybe dead."

The St. Jacques Society, founded in 1966 by Archbishop François Poirier, head of the Port-au-Prince Archdiocese at the time, has some 20 missionaries working in Haiti as well as 20 seminarians.

"Pray for us," Father Siohan begged.

Devastating
 
This quake, which was followed by 12 aftershocks ranging between a magnitude of 5.0 and 5.9, was the strongest in that region since 1770.

Although the death toll is uncertain, it is estimated that some 3 million people were affected by the disaster. There is concern that the country's impoverished economy will leave the people without adequate emergency services.

A top Roman Catholic official in Haiti was among thousands killed during the earthquake that struck Port-au-Prince, and there are unconfirmed reports of hundreds of priests dead.

Monsignor Joseph Serge Miot, the archbishop of Port-au-Prince, was found dead among the ruins of the archdiocese's office in the Haitian capital. Miot was 63.

The Saint Jacques order of missionary priests was officially founded in 1951 by the bishop of Gonaives, Haiti. While headquartered in France, it retains a strong presence in Haiti and traces its unofficial missionary activity to 1860.

Born in Jeremie, Haiti, on Nov. 23, 1946, Miot was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1975.

He was consecrated a bishop in 1997, and named deputy to the archbishop of Port-au-Prince, a title he held until being named archbishop himself in 2008.

The Associated Press has reported that the Rev. Pierre Le Beller of the Saint Jacques Missionary Center in western France says fellow missionaries in Haiti told him they found Miot's body in the ruins of the archdiocese office.

In South Florida, as Haitian families were scrambling to contact relatives on the island, Catholic pastors were preparing for prayer services for earthquake victims and Miot.

``The archbishop was a very peaceful person,'' said the Rev. Robés Charles, pastor of St. Clement Catholic Church in Wilton Manors, which has a large Haitian congregation and will hold a vigil Wednesday night. Charles said he first met Miot more than two decades ago in Haiti while visiting a friend who was studying at a Haitian seminary.

A representative from the Archdiocese of Miami said it was waiting for confirmation before commenting on the archbishop's death. The archdiocese is accepting donations for earthquake victims, and Archbishop John C. Favalora was scheduled to meet with local Haitian priests Wednesday afternoon to discuss the earthquake at the archdiocese's Miami Shores office.

Archbishop Joseph Miot was born in Jérémie, in western Haiti, on Nov. 23, 1946. He was ordained as a priest in 1975 in Jérémie and in 1997 was appointed coadjudicator bishop of Port-au-Prince by Pope John Paul II.

Archbishop Miot made headlines in 2005 when he suspended Haitian priest and activist the Rev. Gérard Jean-Juste from priestly duties when it appeared he might run for president -- a political activity the Vatican prohibits for priests. Jean-Juste, a champion of civil rights for Haitians in Haiti and the United States, died in May in Miami at age 62.

His Grace Miot, who became Archbishop of Port-au-Prince in March 2008 after the resignation of Archbishop François-Wolff Ligondé, was one of two top Catholic leaders in Haiti. The earthquake that struck Port-au-Prince was reported to have relatively minimal impact in Cap-Haitien, where the other top Catholic leader, Archbishop Louis Kébreau, resides.