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| Bondye |
Although Catholicism is named as the official state religion
in the Haitian constitution, the values and principles of the Catholic faith
and Catholic moral teaching have little influence in Haitian government or
society. On his Papal visit to Haiti in
1983 Pope John Paul II criticized the government of then president Jean-Claude
Duvalier. The mix of Catholicism with
West African and Taíno religious
elements in Haitian Vodou is similar to the syncretism found in the Cuban Santería
religion. The Vodou religion seems to have its roots in Benin (Dahomey), the
country in West Africa where most of the slaves brought to the Haiti by colonists
originated. “Vodouists believe in a distant and unknowable creator god, Bondye.
As Bondye does not intercede in human affairs, Vodouists direct their worship
toward spirits subservient to Bondye, called loa. Former president of Haiti, Francois Duvalier
(also known as Papa Doc), played a role in elevating the status of Vodou into a
national doctrine. Duvalier was involved in the noirisme movement and hoped to
re-value cultural practices that had their origins in Africa.”
