History of Haiti and the Catholic Church

The first wave of evangelization was terminated by the Haitian revolution. Instability hit the territory for decades and poverty, mistreatment of slaves and a class system became the fate of the country. Haiti consequently was declared as the first black independent nation and almost all the clergy left the area after the 1804 massacre.

On the 28th of March 1960, an agreement was reached between the Catholic Church and the Haitian government. According to the concordant, the government was charged with providing special security to the Catholic Church. An archbishop and bishops were appointed by the president and the pope held the power to refuse the canonical institution. An annual salary of 1,200 francs was given to clergy from the state.

A whole new system of bishops and Archbishops was organized and three fathers of the Congregation of the Holy Ghost restored the parish organization. New priests were enlisted and in order to recruit more clergy, Saint-Martial Seminary was established. More and more priests were sent to Haiti from different states.

Even today the Church in Haiti deals with the common Haitian struggles of poor living conditions, poverty and health issues. With the appointment of the country's first ever cardinal, some might hope that this will start to slowly change.

Reply to this article

Read more: Religion, Catholic, Newsletter Articles, Religion

« Not to Share Wealth with Poor is Theft, Pope Francis | Main | The Voodoo Religion and the Catholic influences »

Return to Articles List

Our objective is to share with you news and information about Haiti and the people of Haiti. Traditions, habits and the way we were  or  grew are alive in this site. We highly recommend that you Subscribe to our Newsletter and also share with us some of the things that are memorable and made us unique people.