Religion - Haiti Observer Blog

Before I start talking about this topic, I want to make it clear that I am not taking any side. So, please do not think that I deserve "Pe Lebrun" for this.

So what is the issue?

Recently I finid myself in the middle of an argument between two Haitians with different views about religion. You probably said that this is nothing new. Actually, this one was new to me because the argument was whether Voodoo or Christianity was better for Haiti.

Here is the argument I heard in support to Christianity:

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Can you think of anyone when Pope is calling right-wing, fundamentalist Christianity an "illness." Does the name "Pat" Robertson ring a bell?

If there is one thing that differentiate the new Pop from his predecessors is the way he preaches his message.His focus is fighting for economic equality. Pope Francis has shifted the focus of the Catholic Church to issues facing the poor and the sick, and away from anti-gay and anti-abortion that have dominated the Catholic religion

Like many other thing, Pope Francis does not seem to be impressed about Christian fundamentalism.

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African-Haitian Catholic nun, Mother Mary Lange, is finally receiving recognition for her role in Christianizing the greater parts of northern and southern America. She is being considered for sainthood.

Raised in Cuba, she immigrated to the U.S. and began the Oblate Sisters of Providence Order, the first African-American convent in 1829. She also started a private school to educate black children, who had no other access to an education.

Baltimore Archbishop, James Hector, admired her work and urged her to establish the Oblate Sisters of Providence, to prepare black girls to serve as nuns. He appointed her as Mother Superior of the order.

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Visitors to Cap-Haitian Cathedral in the town of the same name will discover the history of Haiti, before it became the first black-led republic in the world. Located on the main plaza, the church, now known as the Cathedral of Our Lady, is a well-maintained edifice that seems displaced in the garbage-strewn and dirty rest of town.

A piece of Haiti's slave history is remembered with the statue of revolutionary slave leader, Mackandal, situated on the cathedral site. He led a contingent of black slaves that had fled plantations, where they had labored cutting down sugar cane. The slaves fighting under Mackandal were called Maroons, a reference to the blood they shed while hewing sugar cane. Mackandal was killed on the plaza in 1758, 46 years before Haiti won its freedom from the French.

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The Gay Rights Movement in the U.S. has motivated Haiti's religious groups to stage an anti-homosexual march. The event that touched a nerve within the Christian community was the Supreme Court's ruling. The Court says forbidding gays to marry is unconstitutional, at least in the state of California.

All religious denominations participated in the march. They displayed signs with homophobic messages written on them, and emotions ran high. The marchers warned they would set Parliament on fire if senators and deputies voted in favor of same-sex marriage.

One demonstrator asserted his belief God forbids same-sex coupling. Furthermore, he said God would take his revenge on the Christian community if they permit a proposal to legalize same-sex marriage pass into law.

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Christian minister, Pierre Andre, has achieved fame in Haitian religious circles as an original voice of God. Andre began his theological career as an untrained minister in Delmas's Church of God, mesmerizing parishioners with his gospel sermons. He parlayed that position into hosting a weekly radio show, learning how to speak the language of the common people in Delmas. It must be noted here poor Haitians do not have money to purchase TV sets. But radios sets are cheap and nearly every Haitian household owns one.

Pastor Pierre Andre reputation as a natural gospel preacher attracted the notice of the Delmas Church School of Theology. It awarded Andre a scholarship to pursue theological studies to become a sanctified pastor.

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President Gérard of the Coalition of Religious and Moral Organizations (HCRMO) and its members gathered together in June to denounce the trend of allowing gay people to wed. Gay marriage has taken hold in the U.S., with 13 states permitting gay people to marry in religious ceremonies.

In a news conference, Gérard spoke of the sacredness of marriage between a male and female, whose sexual union is for the purpose of procreation. Moreover, he said the nuclear family (a male and female couple) is the nexus of all cultures, and not to be interfered with. According to HCRMO, gay marriages will violate God's plan, precipitating a breakdown of family values.

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Spiritans, a Roman Catholic Religious Congregation founded in 1703, have been working globally to help the poor and the needy. There are total 43 Spiritans who are connected with the Haitian Foundation of the Congregation of which 12 are ministering within Haiti, 12 others are ministering outside the Island Country and there are 19 seminarians from Haiti who are studying for priesthood.

One of the several ministries of the Spiritans in Haiti is the Petit Séminaire Collège Saint Martial (PSCSM). The Petit Séminaire Collège Saint Martial is located centrally at Port-au-Prince and it is actually a Catholic school that was established in the year 1865. Originally the PSCSM was a petit séminaire or minor seminary meant only for the candidates to priesthood. 7 years after its establishment, College St. Martial started operating as an open school which has, ever since then, provided quality education to several generations of Haitians. From 1865 to date, well over 300 Spiritans missionaries that include brothers and priests, have ministered and worked at the school.

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With their belief that the Gospel cannot exist in tandem with misery CPFSI, and its founder Brother Franklin Armand, began a program that has turned life around for the inhabitants of one village in the Haitian city of Hinche.

With the entire country facing economic difficulties, exacerbated by the vicious cycle of agricultural deforestation, residents of Pandiassou, a small settlement in Haiti's Central Plateau, have benefited from the efforts of the missionary and their campaign to turn around the ability of the peasantry to sustain themselves in today's socio-economic climate.

Started over 25 years before, the Congregation of Little Brothers and Sisters of the Incarnate (CPFSI) first began by aiding the peasantry to feed itself. Once the immediate needs were met they set about making this abundance self-sustainable and stamping out the crippling dependency on food aid. What they established was a Konbit-like system of community farming that maximized the efficiency of the community's production. Unlike a traditional Konbit, the peasants are instrumental in the planning stages, which manifests in a more successfully cooperative undertaking.

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Religious Origins.

Haiti culture is informed by multi-cultural influences. Religious traditions are grounded in Voodoo and Roman Catholicism. The melding of these two different belief systems arose when Voodoo was imported by African Congolese slaves. It soon became cross-bred with French and Spanish settlers' Christian practices.

Music Origins

Haiti's musical traditions have derived from Voodoo, Afro-Cuban, and Creole jazz-roots genres.

Food Origins

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