Roman Catholicism in Haiti
Encyclopedia
The Roman Catholic Church in Haiti is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope
, the curia
in Rome
and the Conference of Haitian Bishops.
There are over 10.5 million Catholics in Haiti
- about 80% of the total population. There are nine diocese
s including two archdioceses. The national patron saint
of Haiti is Our Mother of Perpetual Help
.
"The Dioceses of Santo Domingo and Concepción de la Vega were founded in 1511, and the island of Hispaniola
that Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic
, was divided between these bishoprics
. In 1527 Concepción was incorporated into Santo Domingo, which remained the only diocese until 1862. Many regular clergy came with the French into the French territory, especially the Dominicans and the Capuchins
. The Dominicans devoted themselves especially to the mission in the western part of the colony, and were for a time supported therein by other orders and secular priests."
"The Dominicans were also designated as missionaries to the southern part of the island. The Capuchins, who looked after the northern part of the island, and were likewise assisted by other orders and secular priests, soon were unable to supply enough missionaries. On that account they gave up this mission in 1704, and we replaced by the Jesuits, who worked there until their expulsion at the end of 1763. Secular priests followed, but after five years they were superseded by Capuchins."
"The Haitian Revolution
brought an end to the first wave of evangelisation. Influence by the clergy ceased in the northern part of the country, the western mission improved under the British occupation from 1794 to 1798, while, in the south, the Apostolic prefect
Père Viriot, was murdered. When the leader of the revolution Toussaint L'Ouverture
came to power in 1800, he restored the rights of the Catholic Church. However, the council of Constitutional bishops at Paris had nominated a bishop of Santo Domingo, who never obtained recognition either from Toussaint or the Capuchins. In 1802 General Leclere restored the former jurisdictions of Cap-Haïtien
and Port-au-Prince
, and named as prefects Apostolic Pères Corneille Brelle, O. Cap.
, and Lecun, O. P.. These appointments were confirmed by the Vatican. Tensions increased as poverty spread, mistreatment of slaves was common and a class system grew between a French-speaking Catholic minority and the poorer Creole majority. The Haitian slaves revolted in 1804 and, under the leadership of Jean-Jacques Dessalines
, Haiti became the first black independent nation. After a massacre in 1804, nearly all the clergy left the colony. For the following two years the only religious services given at Port-au-Prince were held by a former sacristan
. After the overthrow of James I in 1806 some missionaries returned."
between the Catholic Church and the Haitian government was signed on 28 March 1860. In December, 1860, Monseigneur Monetti arrived as the Church's delegate.
The concordat provided that the Catholic Church would have the special protection of the Government. The president would nominate the archbishop and the bishops, but the Pope could refuse them canonical institution. The clergy received an annual salary of 1200 francs from the State."
"Five bishoprics were erected in 1861; the Archbishopric of Port-au-Prince, and the Sees of Cap-Haitien, Les Cayes, Gonaïves, and Port-de-Paix. Initially, he Archbishop of Port-au-Prince administered all the dioceses. A separate bishop was appointed to Cap-haitien in 1873, who would also oversee the administration of Port-au-Paix. In 1893 a separate bishop was appointed for Les Cayes; while Gonaïves was still administered by the archbishop. On the conclusion of the concordat, three fathers of the Congregation of the Holy Ghost
and of the Holy Heart of Mary were sent to Port-au-Prince. These restored the regular parish organization in the capital. The first archbishop, du Cosquer, and his successor, Quilloux, visited France to enlist new priests. Because of diseases in the tropical climate, many of the clergy died. By 1906, out of 516 priests who had come from France since 1864, 200 had died, 150 were still at their posts, and the rest were invalided to Europe. To ensure recruits, Mgr. du Cosquer established the Saint-Martial Seminary in 1864, which was united with the Colonial Seminary conducted by the Fathers of the Holy Ghost. It received an annual state subsidy of 20,000 francs, the payment of which, however, was suspended owing to the political troubles of 1867, and in 1869 it was entirely abrogated. In 1870, owing to the war, the Fathers of the Holy Ghost gave up direction of the seminary. Mgr. Quilloux then founded a new seminary in Pontchâteau (Loire inférieure) in 1873 under the direction of the Fathers of the Society of Mary. Finally in 1893 the seminary was removed to St-Jacques (Finisterre) and its direction entrusted to the secular priests. By 1909, Pontchâteau Seminary had sent 196 priests to Haiti, and St. Jacques had sent 171, for 92 parishes."
After the American Occupation ended in 1934, there was a constant struggle for power between the Catholic Church and the followers of voodoo.
The small number of priests and members of religious orders in the 1930s ministered mainly to the urban elite. Until the midtwentieth century, the majority of priests were francophone Europeans, particularly Breton
s, who were culturally distant from their rural parishioners. Roman Catholic clergy were generally hostile toward voodoo, and they led two major campaigns against the religion in 1896 and 1941. During these campaigns, the government outlawed voodoo services, and Catholics destroyed voodoo religious objects and persecuted practitioners. Roman Catholic clergy, however, have not been persistently militant in their opposition to voodoo, and they have had relatively little impact on the religious practices of the rural and the urban poor. The clergy have generally directed their energies more toward educating the urban population than toward eradicating voodoo. In the 1970s and the 1980s, the use of Creole
and drum
music became common in Roman Catholic services. Incorporating folk elements into the liturgy
, however, did not mean that the Roman Catholic Church's attitude toward voodoo had changed. In everyday practice, many people incorporate both Roman Catholic and voodoo together.
Nationalists and others came to resent the Roman Catholic Church because of its European orientation and its alliance with the mulatto
elite. François Duvalier
opposed the church more than any other Haitian president. He expelled the archbishop of Port-au-Prince, the Jesuit order, and numerous priests between 1959 and 1961. In response to these moves, the Vatican excommunicated Duvalier. When relations with the church were restored in 1966, a Haitian archbishop was named for the first time, and the president gained the right to nominate bishops.
In the aftermath of Jean-Claude Duvalier's departure, the church took a less active role in Haiti's politics. The church hierarchy strongly supported the suppressed 1987 Constitution, which granted official status to Creole and guaranteed basic human rights
, including the right to practice voodoo. The alliance with the lower classes left the Catholic Church with two unresolved problems in the late 1980s: its uneasy relationship with voodoo and its relationship to the more radical elements of the political movement that it had supported..
and Cap-Haïtien
, actively denounced Duvalierist repression
and human-rights violations.
In 1990, a priest from the slums of Port Au Prince was elected by 67% of the people: Jean Bertrand Aristide, seen as the first leader of the people since 1804.
Though Cardinal Ratzinger
did praise the theology's intellectual underpinnings that reject violence, and, instead, "[stress] the responsibility which Christians necessarily bear for the poor and oppressed", he strongly opposed certain elements of Liberation Theology
, through the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
and the Vatican twice (1984, 1986) officially condemned its acceptance of Marxism
and armed violence. Since then, the Catholic Church in Haiti has adopted a more prayerful, pacifist and human approach in providing help and justice for the poor, as can be shown in the conduct of Father Gérard Jean-Juste
.
To this day, the Church in Haiti is still struggling with poverty and dire health and living conditions. In accordance with the Catholic Social Teaching
, it strives to vindicate the right to life of all people in Haiti, through partnerships and twinnings .
According to the Catholic Church in Haiti, the ten dioceses of the two ecclesiastical provinces of Haiti count up to 251 parishes and about 1500 Christian rural communities. The indigenous clergy has 400 diocesan priests and 300 seminarians. There are also 1300 religious missionary priests belonging to more than 70 religious families. Vocations to the priesthood are plenty.
The Port-au-Prince Cathedral, a seminary, and some archdiocesan offices sustained major damage in the 2010 Haiti earthquake
. Among its many victims were Port-au-Prince's Archbishop
Joseph Serge Miot
and his chancellor, many seminarians and religious, as well as the sister of Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns
of Brazil.
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
, the curia
Curia (Roman Catholic Church)
In Roman Catholicism, a curia consists of a group of officials who assist in the governance of a particular Church. These curias range from the relatively simple diocesan curia, to the larger patriarchal curias, to the Roman Curia, which is the central government of the Catholic Church.Other...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
and the Conference of Haitian Bishops.
There are over 10.5 million Catholics in Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
- about 80% of the total population. There are nine diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
s including two archdioceses. The national patron saint
Patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
of Haiti is Our Mother of Perpetual Help
Our Mother of Perpetual Help
Our Lady of Perpetual Help or "Sancta Mater de Perpetuo Succursu" Holy Mother of Perpetual Help is a title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary by Pope Pius IX, associated with a Byzantine icon of the same name dating from the 15th century...
.
Colonisation and the first wave of evangelization (1511–1806)
Hispaniola
Hispaniola is a major island in the Caribbean, containing the two sovereign states of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The island is located between the islands of Cuba to the west and Puerto Rico to the east, within the hurricane belt...
that Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
, was divided between these bishoprics
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
. In 1527 Concepción was incorporated into Santo Domingo, which remained the only diocese until 1862. Many regular clergy came with the French into the French territory, especially the Dominicans and the Capuchins
Order of Friars Minor Capuchin
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin is an Order of friars in the Catholic Church, among the chief offshoots of the Franciscans. The worldwide head of the Order, called the Minister General, is currently Father Mauro Jöhri.-Origins :...
. The Dominicans devoted themselves especially to the mission in the western part of the colony, and were for a time supported therein by other orders and secular priests."
"The Dominicans were also designated as missionaries to the southern part of the island. The Capuchins, who looked after the northern part of the island, and were likewise assisted by other orders and secular priests, soon were unable to supply enough missionaries. On that account they gave up this mission in 1704, and we replaced by the Jesuits, who worked there until their expulsion at the end of 1763. Secular priests followed, but after five years they were superseded by Capuchins."
"The Haitian Revolution
Haitian Revolution
The Haitian Revolution was a period of conflict in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, which culminated in the elimination of slavery there and the founding of the Haitian republic...
brought an end to the first wave of evangelisation. Influence by the clergy ceased in the northern part of the country, the western mission improved under the British occupation from 1794 to 1798, while, in the south, the Apostolic prefect
Apostolic prefect
An apostolic prefect is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a missionary area where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese....
Père Viriot, was murdered. When the leader of the revolution Toussaint L'Ouverture
Toussaint L'Ouverture
François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture , also Toussaint Bréda, Toussaint-Louverture was the leader of the Haitian Revolution. His military genius and political acumen led to the establishment of the independent black state of Haiti, transforming an entire society of slaves into a free,...
came to power in 1800, he restored the rights of the Catholic Church. However, the council of Constitutional bishops at Paris had nominated a bishop of Santo Domingo, who never obtained recognition either from Toussaint or the Capuchins. In 1802 General Leclere restored the former jurisdictions of Cap-Haïtien
Cap-Haïtien
Cap-Haïtien is a city of about 190,000 people on the north coast of Haiti and capital of the Department of Nord...
and Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince is the capital and largest city of the Caribbean nation of Haiti. The city's population was 704,776 as of the 2003 census, and was officially estimated to have reached 897,859 in 2009....
, and named as prefects Apostolic Pères Corneille Brelle, O. Cap.
Order of Friars Minor Capuchin
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin is an Order of friars in the Catholic Church, among the chief offshoots of the Franciscans. The worldwide head of the Order, called the Minister General, is currently Father Mauro Jöhri.-Origins :...
, and Lecun, O. P.. These appointments were confirmed by the Vatican. Tensions increased as poverty spread, mistreatment of slaves was common and a class system grew between a French-speaking Catholic minority and the poorer Creole majority. The Haitian slaves revolted in 1804 and, under the leadership of Jean-Jacques Dessalines
Jean-Jacques Dessalines
Jean-Jacques Dessalines was a leader of the Haitian Revolution and the first ruler of an independent Haiti under the 1801 constitution. Initially regarded as Governor-General, Dessalines later named himself Emperor Jacques I of Haiti...
, Haiti became the first black independent nation. After a massacre in 1804, nearly all the clergy left the colony. For the following two years the only religious services given at Port-au-Prince were held by a former sacristan
Sacristan
A sacristan is an officer who is charged with the care of the sacristy, the church, and their contents.In ancient times many duties of the sacristan were performed by the doorkeepers , later by the treasurers and mansionarii...
. After the overthrow of James I in 1806 some missionaries returned."
The Concordat and the second wave of evangelization (1860–1910)
"After years of negotiations, a concordatConcordat
A concordat is an agreement between the Holy See of the Catholic Church and a sovereign state on religious matters. Legally, they are international treaties. They often includes both recognition and privileges for the Catholic Church in a particular country...
between the Catholic Church and the Haitian government was signed on 28 March 1860. In December, 1860, Monseigneur Monetti arrived as the Church's delegate.
The concordat provided that the Catholic Church would have the special protection of the Government. The president would nominate the archbishop and the bishops, but the Pope could refuse them canonical institution. The clergy received an annual salary of 1200 francs from the State."
"Five bishoprics were erected in 1861; the Archbishopric of Port-au-Prince, and the Sees of Cap-Haitien, Les Cayes, Gonaïves, and Port-de-Paix. Initially, he Archbishop of Port-au-Prince administered all the dioceses. A separate bishop was appointed to Cap-haitien in 1873, who would also oversee the administration of Port-au-Paix. In 1893 a separate bishop was appointed for Les Cayes; while Gonaïves was still administered by the archbishop. On the conclusion of the concordat, three fathers of the Congregation of the Holy Ghost
Congregation of the Holy Ghost
The name Congregation of the Holy Ghost applies to five Catholic Congregations: the Holy Ghost Fathers and four female congregations.* Holy Ghost Fathers also known as the Spiritans...
and of the Holy Heart of Mary were sent to Port-au-Prince. These restored the regular parish organization in the capital. The first archbishop, du Cosquer, and his successor, Quilloux, visited France to enlist new priests. Because of diseases in the tropical climate, many of the clergy died. By 1906, out of 516 priests who had come from France since 1864, 200 had died, 150 were still at their posts, and the rest were invalided to Europe. To ensure recruits, Mgr. du Cosquer established the Saint-Martial Seminary in 1864, which was united with the Colonial Seminary conducted by the Fathers of the Holy Ghost. It received an annual state subsidy of 20,000 francs, the payment of which, however, was suspended owing to the political troubles of 1867, and in 1869 it was entirely abrogated. In 1870, owing to the war, the Fathers of the Holy Ghost gave up direction of the seminary. Mgr. Quilloux then founded a new seminary in Pontchâteau (Loire inférieure) in 1873 under the direction of the Fathers of the Society of Mary. Finally in 1893 the seminary was removed to St-Jacques (Finisterre) and its direction entrusted to the secular priests. By 1909, Pontchâteau Seminary had sent 196 priests to Haiti, and St. Jacques had sent 171, for 92 parishes."
The struggle and reconciliation with vodoo culture (1934–1990)
The small number of priests and members of religious orders in the 1930s ministered mainly to the urban elite. Until the midtwentieth century, the majority of priests were francophone Europeans, particularly Breton
Breton people
The Bretons are an ethnic group located in the region of Brittany in France. They trace much of their heritage to groups of Brythonic speakers who emigrated from southwestern Great Britain in waves from the 3rd to 6th century into the Armorican peninsula, subsequently named Brittany after them.The...
s, who were culturally distant from their rural parishioners. Roman Catholic clergy were generally hostile toward voodoo, and they led two major campaigns against the religion in 1896 and 1941. During these campaigns, the government outlawed voodoo services, and Catholics destroyed voodoo religious objects and persecuted practitioners. Roman Catholic clergy, however, have not been persistently militant in their opposition to voodoo, and they have had relatively little impact on the religious practices of the rural and the urban poor. The clergy have generally directed their energies more toward educating the urban population than toward eradicating voodoo. In the 1970s and the 1980s, the use of Creole
Creole peoples
The term Creole and its cognates in other languages — such as crioulo, criollo, créole, kriolu, criol, kreyol, kreol, kriulo, kriol, krio, etc. — have been applied to people in different countries and epochs, with rather different meanings...
and drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
music became common in Roman Catholic services. Incorporating folk elements into the liturgy
Liturgy
Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...
, however, did not mean that the Roman Catholic Church's attitude toward voodoo had changed. In everyday practice, many people incorporate both Roman Catholic and voodoo together.
Nationalists and others came to resent the Roman Catholic Church because of its European orientation and its alliance with the mulatto
Mulatto
Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
elite. François Duvalier
François Duvalier
François Duvalier was the President of Haiti from 1957 until his death in 1971. Duvalier first won acclaim in fighting diseases, earning him the nickname "Papa Doc" . He opposed a military coup d'état in 1950, and was elected President in 1957 on a populist and black nationalist platform...
opposed the church more than any other Haitian president. He expelled the archbishop of Port-au-Prince, the Jesuit order, and numerous priests between 1959 and 1961. In response to these moves, the Vatican excommunicated Duvalier. When relations with the church were restored in 1966, a Haitian archbishop was named for the first time, and the president gained the right to nominate bishops.
In the aftermath of Jean-Claude Duvalier's departure, the church took a less active role in Haiti's politics. The church hierarchy strongly supported the suppressed 1987 Constitution, which granted official status to Creole and guaranteed basic human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
, including the right to practice voodoo. The alliance with the lower classes left the Catholic Church with two unresolved problems in the late 1980s: its uneasy relationship with voodoo and its relationship to the more radical elements of the political movement that it had supported..
The fight against poverty and liberation theology (1990–2004)
The mid-1980s marked a profound change in the church's stance on issues related to peasants and the urban poor. Reflecting this change was the statement by Pope John Paul II, during a visit to Haiti in 1983, that "Things must change here". Galvanized by the Vatican's concern, Roman Catholic clergy and lay workers called for improved human rights. Lay workers helped develop a peasant-community movement, especially at a center in the Plateau Central. The Roman Catholic radio station, Radio Soleil, played a key role in disseminating news about government actions during the 1985-86 crisis and encouraging opponents of the Duvalier government. The bishops, particularly in JérémieJérémie
Jérémie is the capital city of the department of Grand'Anse, in Haiti, with a population of about 31,000 . It is almost isolated from the rest of the country...
and Cap-Haïtien
Cap-Haïtien
Cap-Haïtien is a city of about 190,000 people on the north coast of Haiti and capital of the Department of Nord...
, actively denounced Duvalierist repression
Political repression
Political repression is the persecution of an individual or group for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing their ability to take political life of society....
and human-rights violations.
In 1990, a priest from the slums of Port Au Prince was elected by 67% of the people: Jean Bertrand Aristide, seen as the first leader of the people since 1804.
Though Cardinal Ratzinger
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
did praise the theology's intellectual underpinnings that reject violence, and, instead, "[stress] the responsibility which Christians necessarily bear for the poor and oppressed", he strongly opposed certain elements of Liberation Theology
Liberation theology
Liberation theology is a Christian movement in political theology which interprets the teachings of Jesus Christ in terms of a liberation from unjust economic, political, or social conditions...
, through the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , previously known as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition , and after 1904 called the Supreme...
and the Vatican twice (1984, 1986) officially condemned its acceptance of Marxism
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
and armed violence. Since then, the Catholic Church in Haiti has adopted a more prayerful, pacifist and human approach in providing help and justice for the poor, as can be shown in the conduct of Father Gérard Jean-Juste
Gérard Jean-Juste
Fr. Gérard Jean-Juste was a Roman Catholic priest and rector of Saint Claire's church for the poor in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He was also a liberation theologian and a supporter of the Fanmi Lavalas political party, the largest in Haiti. In 1978, Father Jean-Juste founded the Haitian Refugee Center...
.
Today
Catholic social teaching
Catholic social teaching is a body of doctrine developed by the Catholic Church on matters of poverty and wealth, economics, social organization and the role of the state...
, it strives to vindicate the right to life of all people in Haiti, through partnerships and twinnings .
According to the Catholic Church in Haiti, the ten dioceses of the two ecclesiastical provinces of Haiti count up to 251 parishes and about 1500 Christian rural communities. The indigenous clergy has 400 diocesan priests and 300 seminarians. There are also 1300 religious missionary priests belonging to more than 70 religious families. Vocations to the priesthood are plenty.
The Port-au-Prince Cathedral, a seminary, and some archdiocesan offices sustained major damage in the 2010 Haiti earthquake
2010 Haiti earthquake
The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake, with an epicentre near the town of Léogâne, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.By 24 January, at least 52 aftershocks...
. Among its many victims were Port-au-Prince's Archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
Joseph Serge Miot
Joseph Serge Miot
Joseph Serge Miot was a Haitian archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the ninth Archbishop of Port-au-Prince, serving from 2008 until his death as a result of the January 12, 2010 earthquake.-Biography:...
and his chancellor, many seminarians and religious, as well as the sister of Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns
Paulo Evaristo Arns
Paulo Evaristo Arns O.F.M. is the Cardinal Archbishop Emeritus of São Paulo.-Early life and education:...
of Brazil.
See also
- Christianity in HaitiChristianity in HaitiHaiti saw the introduction of Christianity when Europeans arrived to colonize the island. It was first introduced by the Spanish, later followed by French colonialists. The primary brand of Christianity was Catholicism, and this has intermingled with the religions of other peoples, particularly...
- Christian-Voodoo relationsChristian-Voodoo relationsChristian-Voodoo relations have been marked by political conflicts and syncretism, especially in Haiti and less so in Louisiana or elsewhere.-Christian and Voodoo conflicts:...
- Social class in HaitiSocial class in Haiti-History:As a result of the extinction of the indigenous population by the beginning of the seventeenth century, the population of pre-independence Saint-Domingue was entirely the product of the French colonists' slaveholding policies and practices...
Further reading
- The Catholic Church in Haiti: Political and Social Change, an article from: Theological Studies by John P. Hogan
- The Catholic Church in Haiti: Political and Social Change by Anne Greene
- The Faces of the Gods: Vodou and Roman Catholicism in Haiti by Leslie G. Desmangles
- Our Lady of Class Struggle: The Cult of the Virgin Mary in Haiti by Terry Rey