The Butterflies

Three of the Mirabal sisters were  active in the Dominican liberation movement and became known popularly as the “Butterflies” during this time. The Organization of American States sent representative to observe what was happening in the Dominican Republic.  The Catholic church encouraged the eventual release of all female prisoners including the “Butterflies.”  Trujillo thought if the sisters disappeared then the movement would be repressed and set about to plan their deaths.  When Minerva, Maria and Patria were  returning from visiting their spouses in jail they were stopped by the secret police along the road between Puerto Plata and Santiago.   They and their driver found were clubbed, beaten and then strangled to death.  Patria was 36 years old, Minerva was 34 years old and Maria was 24 years old.  This act had far reaching consequences for Trujillo.  Within six months of the murder of the “Butterflies” Trujillo himself was assassinated.  

Throughout this tumultuous period Dominican Sisters remained in the country to collaborate in the mission of Catholic education in the Dominican Republic. Adrian Dominican Sister Irene (Morence) spent the 1964-65 school year in the Dominican Republic at Colegio Santo Domingo, teaching French, business, history, and English. This was a time of great peril and violence. The dictator Trujillo had been assassinated, and the army was searching for those who were responsible. The sisters were also in danger, and were forced to leave. Sister Irene wrote: “This was the year of the outbreak of war there. I happened to be at Las Matas at the time of the outbreak, so could not get back to the Colegio when the sisters from there boarded the ship for home. We attempted to get through, but missed the boat by fifteen minutes. I was one of the six left behind for several days. It was a frightening time!” 

Dominican Liberation

Public opposition against Trujillo is memorialized in the story of the three Mirabal Sisters who are remembered as national heroes.  The eldest sister, Patria, born on the anniversary of the Dominican Republic's independence, was sent to Inmaculada Concepción, a Catholic school in La Vega.  Her three sisters Dede, Minerva and Maria Teresa followed her.  There, Minerva became involved in the underground movement to over throw Trujillo through the influence of school friends whose relatives had been tortured and killed by Trujillo's army.  Trujillo had his own designs the beautiful Mirabel girls.  In October 1942 Trujillo hosted a party to commemorate Columbus's discovery of the Americas to which he invited the Mirabal family. The girls really did not want to attend but there was no way to refuse.  When a huge storm came up in the middle of the party, they seized the chance to escape.  Trujillo reacted swiftly to this slight and called an armed guard to force them to return.  Trujillo had Don Enrique, the father of the family put in prison and placed the girls and their mother under house arrest where Minerva was interrogated every day.  Throughout the 1950's the members of the Mirabal family were routinely thrown in prison and harassed.  On June 14 1959 the Dominican Liberation Movement, led by Minerva's husband, attempted to topple Trujillo's dictatorship, but failed. More and more young middle class Dominicans joined the movement and Trujillo began arresting thousands of young people and imprisoning them for their opposition. The Catholic Church intervened and officially condemned the arrests. Catholic schools and universities, including those run by Dominican Sisters, provided refuge and support for the underground liberation movement and were threatened with closure by the state.

Dominican Diaspora

After the dictatorship of Trujillo was put down, the Dominican Republic was relatively stable compared to other parts of the Caribbean.  However, racial tension and economic inequalities persist and there is an ongoing Dominican diaspora to the United States.  Many of the best and brightest citizens continue to emigrate to the United States.  It is estimated that as much as a tenth of the wealth of the country is supplied by expatriates living in the United States sending money back home to their families. 

In 1972 the Adrian Dominicans sent Sisters to teach in Centro Educacional de Bonao.  The continued work of Dominican Sisters in the Dominican Republic focuses on providing educational and practical help in places where poverty placed the people at risk.  The driving force of their mission is a deeply felt compassion for the poor.  Dominican Sisters from Adrian, Michigan as well as from Puerto Rico and New York collaborate in this mission.

Rights Restored by L'Ouverture

The revolutionary hero of the slave rebellion, Toussaint L'Ouverture restored rights to the Catholic religion when he came to power in 1800.  But, there was another massacre in 1804 and nearly all the clergy left the colony.  After the overthrow of James I some missionaries returned in 1806, but negotiations to fully reinstate the Church took several decades.  It was not until 1860 that a concordat was finally signed and a new apostolic delegate could be installed.  Since 1860 the Catholic religion has enjoyed the protection of the government. The president nominates the archbishop and the bishops, but the Pope can refuse them canonical institution.  

Five bishoprics were erected in 1861 in Port-au-Prince, Cap-Haitien, Les Cayes, Gonaïves, and Port-de-Paix.  The Congregation of the Holy Ghost and of the Holy Heart of Mary sent priests to Port-au-Prince, but many succumbed to tropical diseases and died.  The Fathers of the Holy Ghost gave up direction of the seminary, Mgr. Quilloux founded a new seminary in Pontchâteau in 1873 under the direction of the Fathers of the Society of Mary.

Early Missionaries in Haiti

Spain and France competed for control of the island of Hispaniola finally settling their dispute in 1697 by dividing the island between them. France received the western third now known as Haiti.  The French developed the land into sugar cane plantations and imported thousands of slaves from Africa. 

Dominicans and the Capuchins came to Haiti with the French colonists. Dominicans concentrated their missionary efforts in the western and southern parts of the island. The Capuchins looked after the northern part of the island.  Both were assisted in their missionary activities by other orders and secular priests.  However they were unable to supply enough missionaries and the Dominicans and Capuchins withdrew from the mission in 1704.  Early missionaries to Haiti shared the guilt associated with its colonization, the enslavement of its people and the atrocities committed along with evangelization.  Dominican missionaries helped to make those atrocities known in Europe and worked to bring about justice for the natives, but that led to the tragedy of the trafficking of millions of West Africans.  Native religion mixed with the spirituality of the slaves and a distorted Catholicism marred by heretical superstitious practice evolved.   

Jesuits came after the Dominicans and Capuchins withdrew and worked in Haiti until their expulsion at the end of 1763.  Chaos followed during the period of the revolution as several priests capitulated and took the constitutional oath demanded by the government.  In the north all celebration of the Mass ceased, while in the south the apostolic prefect, Père Virot, and several priests remained and were murdered.