Voodoo and Cahtolicism

Haiti was colonized by Spanish explorers who were followed by Spanish missionaries who saw the discovery of the New World [as] a challenge to her missionary spirit” [Desmangles, 20]. These Catholic missionaries quickly established Catholicism as the primary religion of the island. From the discovery of Hispaniola until around 1700 the islands missionaries attempted to convert the indigenous peoples to Christianity. Around 1730 a new type of businessman arrived on the island and the economy shifted towards slavery. Plantations were staked out and slaves were brought in from Africa to farm “indigo, coffee, sugar, and cocoa” [Desmangles, 20]. The working conditions in Haiti were some of the worst in the world at that time and the chances of a slave living long enough to reproduce were staggeringly low. Trade from the island was profitable enough to warrant the transportation of new slaves from Africa instead of relying solely on slaves reproducing. Consequently, the Haitian slaves remained tied to their African heritage. Many of their customs, cultures, and religions were carried and flourished in the New World. Perhaps the most famous of these religions brought from Africa was the practice of Voodoo.

As Spanish interest in the island of Hispaniola waned the French began to colonize the western third of the island, what is today known as Haiti. The French were more interested in making money than being good Catholics and they wanted their slaves to behave as such. The less time that their slaves spent going to mass and participating in Church related activities the better for crop production. So with the French arrival on the island came a movement away from Catholicism for a lot of blacks, the movement went hand in hand with a larger amount of blacks participating in their ancient Voodoo practices. So Voodoo and Catholicism merged in Haiti in a way unlike anywhere else in the world. Both religions coexisted and became almost intertwined in Haiti.

The culture of Voodoo is unlike any other in the world. Ceremonies are town events, the entire population shows up and participates. Their ceremonies require sacrifice and a connection to the spiritual world that no other religions require. The use of Voodoo was largely suppressed in Haiti, but because the Voodoo clergy are needed to maintain moral, social, and political order, there was no way to truly eradicate the use of Voodoo in the Americas.

Catholicism