Religion

On Saturday, October 4th, 2014, the ten best players of Rockdale Youth Soccer Association (RYSA) ranging in age from 13 to 18 along with coaching director Rafe Mauran will be travelling to Haiti on a seven-day mission trip. The participants will provide soccer day camps in elementary schools and orphanages in Haiti. Their other service project will include delivering food to those in need, book bags filled with school supplies, visit to a playground project and meeting other needs of the school children. To make this trip a success, organizers are seeking donation and supplies from the community. The supplies they are requesting as donation within September 28 may include: (a) slightly used cleats (size 5 to 14 with shoestrings), (b) slightly used book bags (zippers in working condition), (c) pencil, crayon or markers, (d) protein bars, and (e) power packs of Gatorade energy drinks. All checks and monetary donation payable to Haitian Christian Mission are tax-deductible.

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Haitian Cardinal, Mgr Chibly Langlois, recently commented in The Guardian newspaper on voodoism in Haiti. He described voodoo as a big problem in Haiti.

The response from Religions for Peace Organization's was quick and dissenting. Religions for Peace, an inter-religious organization, issued a press release in protest. They said this would create confusion and tension. This platform, which includes the Roman Catholic Church in Haiti, said their mission is to spread peace, encourage tolerance, prevent conflicts and promote peaceful co-existence. They urged all religious leaders to choose their words carefully. They also said that no religion is superior to the other.

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Chibly Langlois, appointed by Pope Francis as Haiti's first cardinal, is faced with stopping the co-mingling of Voodoo and Catholicism in Haiti. Voodoo had been Haiti's religion before the island became colonized by Catholic countries of Spain and France. On the island of 10 million, 80% practice Catholicism, but 50% indulge in the practice of Voodoo as well.

According to Langlois, Voodoo is a religion of the poor, who have no money to pay a doctor when they fall ill. So they seek the services of a Voodoo priest, who can petition Voodoo spirits for healing. Other intercessions for money and fortune-telling also take place.

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The Haitian community in Little Haiti and Miami will be able to participate in a Catholic Mass by Haitian Cardinal Chibly Langlois for the first time in Miami.

This Sunday, Nov. 23, at 9:30 a.m. at Notre Dame d'Haiti, 110 N.E. 62nd Street, he will be with us to celebrate the Mass with the community.

Born November 29, 1958, Chibly Langlois was elevated to the rank of cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church by Pope Francis. He became the very first Haitian selected for this rank and the only one among the new cardinals who was not an archbishop.

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Voodoo is a religious cult practiced combining the elements of Roman Catholic rituals with traditional African magical and religious rites, characterized by sorcery and spirit possession. It is heavily practiced in the Caribbean and the southern U.S.

Recently, the Haitian Cardinal, Mgr Chibly Langlois, said in a statement that voodoo was a major social problem for Haiti because the practice presents the element of magic and not genuine solutions to the people of Haiti who he termed as "a population deprived of justice and political voice."

His statement has caused such a stir among the inter-religious scope. In a press note, they said that they were extremely saddened and disappointment by the statement from the Cardinal. They argued that it would most likely intensify the confusion in peoples' minds and worsen the current anxiety and tension. They argue that the mission of the inter-religious platform is to advocate for tolerance among people, prevent conflicts and promote togetherness. They further went on to say that God does not empower any religion to judge another.

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The battle for the sole of Haiti has begun once again. In an article written in theguardian.com, newly nominated Haitian Cardinal Chibly Langlois, said that "Voodoo won't save Haiti. Traditional faith offers no real solutions for the poor and is a big social problem".

Cardinal Chibly Langlois attributed Haiti's political problems to its belief system. "If a person is well educated and has the financial means, they will go to a doctor rather than a Houngan when they are sick. The same is true for conflicts between the population; someone would go to Court to get justice instead of going to the voodoo priest to get revenge.

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Cardinal Chibly Langlois, Haiti's first appointee to the Roman Curia, has been given the double honor of being chosen to sit on the Pontifical Commission for Latin America (PCLA) and the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace (PCJP).

Pope Pius XII established PCLA in 1958 and gave administration of its duties to the Congregation for Bishops. PCLA's function is to research challenges Catholics face in the modern age; act as apologists for the faith; and disseminate the tenets of Catholicism in Latin America. The PCLA monitors duties, integrates, and aids the Latin America Episcopal Council. This alliance came into being through the decree of Pope Paul VI in 1963. Responsibilities of PCLA entail encouraging harmonious relationships among many different bodies of faith, operated by the Catholic Church in Latin America. Cardinal Langlois is one of three members of PCLA, the others being Cardinals Leopoldo Solarzano of Nicaragua, and Ricardo Andrello of Chile.

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Those who would seek to protect the freedom of all Haitians to choose and practice their religion have accomplished an applaudable feat in putting on a religious freedom festival that has hopes of continuing in perpetuity.

In February 2014 the Seventh-day Adventist Church put on the religious freedom festival that was organized by their Haitian Union Mission and received sponsorship from the International Religious Liberty Association. The turnout for the first iteration numbered into the 3,000s and many advocates went away from the festival calling for a national day of religious freedom in Haiti.

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God must, indeed, be smiling down on Haiti. This would be evident even if the recent appointment of one of the country's own priests as a cardinal were the only backing for the claim. However, His Holiness Pope Francis had a scheduled meeting with Haitian President Michelle Martelly on February 24, 2014 at 10:30 a.m.

The Pope officially appointed Haitian Cardinal, Chibly Langlois to the ranks of Cardinal on February 22, 2014 at an ordinary public consistory, which is the rite in which new Cardinals are selected by the Pope. This was at St. Peters Basicilla in Vatican City. During this inauguration, Langlois, who is also the Bishop of Les Cayes, was made His Eminence Cardinal Chibly Langlois.

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It was the little church that could. And while it took many years to complete the church to the vision of the man who first had the dream, the Notre Dame D'Haiti, is an example of what determination and faith can accomplish.

The day the church opened its brand new doors for its first service of Mass, the crowd was immense. They watched as the man who started it all, Archbishop Thomas Wenski, handed over the keys to the current priest of Notre Dame D'Haiti, offering up a prayer while the crowd clapped.

The new building took eight years of fundraising to accomplish, with $1.5 million dollars being donated by the Archdiocese of Miami through a loan to be repaid by donors and the church's congregation. The congregation, expected to fill all 1,200 seats within the church and 166 within the chapel, will be double what it used to be as the new facility is twice the size of the old church--a converted cafeteria.

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