La Vallee-de-Jacmel - Haiti Observer Blog

On January 12, 2014, Pope Francis has selected Bishop Chibly Langlois of Les Cayes as the first Haitian cardinal. The new cardinal is a 55 year old tireless worker who never forgot his impoverished childhood.

Chibly Langlois was born in La Valle in southeast Haiti and rose in a poor family. He is one among the 19 new cardinals named by Pope Francis on January 12. He is the youngest and the only non-archbishop in the group. The Haitian Catholic leaders believe this selection by Pope is a recognition of his service to the victims of devastating earthquake in 2010. The seismic activity killed over 220,000 people three years ago and left 1.5 million homeless. Even the archbishop of the capital city Port-au-Prince died in the quake and the city's iconic cathedral was toppled. It is truly a historic news for Haiti and a big appreciation of its church's dedicated work undertaken in difficult time in the post-earthquake period.

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Tourism has been on a substantial descent over the last 20 years. But one series of events, the Fête champêtre, continues to give hope to a struggling industry as tourists, local, from the Diaspora, and international, flock Haiti to witness the countryside festival.

One of the main avenues for entertainment to the 18th century elite, a Fête champêtre (a country feast or pastoral festival) was a type of garden party much loved at court. With pretensions to simplicity, the Fête champêtre was patronized by the well dressed, entertained by musicians hidden in the trees, as they enjoyed the beauty of landscaped park.

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