In this paper I will attempt to bring forth the different ways in which the Roman Catholic church has influenced and has been integrated into the vodou religion in the Caribbean island of Haiti. Though the two religions hold very different beliefs and oppose each other at their very core , they have been coexisting in Haiti for 500 years. Throughout the turmoil this island has seen, the two religions interacted in such ways that they both became unique.

History of Vodou

Vodou is based on west African religions. It was brought to the new world from countries such as Kongo, along with the enslaved Africans at the very beginning of the 16th century. In different forms, similar religions can still be found today in countries such as Benin, where the Fon religion is largely practiced. Literally the word vodu or vodun can be translated as "deity" or "Spirit". Vodou is more than just a religion - it is a way of life. It encompasses everything from folk art and folk stories, to medicine practices and ethics. Followers of vodou do not have to sign up as members of a certain church or temple. Rather, it is a religion that is part of everyday life. There are of course as can be found in most other religions, rituals and ceremonies to accompany major changes in life such as birth and death. However, the essence of this religion follows it’s believers in their daily tasks.

As in many other religions, death has a significant meaning. It is a spiritual transformation, where the deceased’s spirit passes to a world beyond. Yet it is possible in vodou to contact the spirit of the deceased in the spirit world by performing certain ceremonies.

History of Catholicism in Haiti

Catholicism was brought to Haiti and indeed to the new world with the arrival of the colonialists. The Roman Catholic church was a strong power that had influence in every European country as well as in their colonies. With the "discovery" of the new world the Roman Catholic church set out to "civilize" and convert any pagan civilizations. The role of the church in Haiti was typical of many different colonies up to the time of the Haitian Revolution. The Vatican assigned all church positions in Haiti and ordained the Catholic priests. The vast majority of the priests were therefore white colonialists, with only very few colored priests being ordained over the years. Since the church set out to abolish paganism, vodou was a practice that in the eyes of the church had to cease to exist. The Catholic church was also aware of the power given to the vodouiants through the practice and participation in vodou rituals. The sense of belonging and the connection to their heritage empowered the enslaved people and many times drove them to revolt. This endangered the power the church held over the enslaved people. They therefore set to persecute vodou and they used every means available to them to do this.

With the Haitian revolution and independence, there occurred a schism with the Vatican which lasted almost 60 years, until 1860 (Desmangles,55). Although the Vatican broke its connection with Haiti and did not send any more priests, the upper class still endorsed the Catholic church and it was announced as the official religion of Haiti in the early 19th century (Desmangles,55). As many priests were expelled or pulled out by the Vatican, the state of Haiti had to ordain its own priests. This gave room for colored priests to be ordained and gain some positions of power. Though they were still against vodou as a pagan religion, because of their African heritage, they were more tolerant of it. During this period in Haitis history, although it was still against the law, vodou managed to prosper.

The coexistence of vodou and the Roman Catholic Church

The differences between vodou and Catholicism are vast and I will attempt to touch upon a few of them. The Catholic church had big, rich, impressive churches. As they were funded by the colonialists, and backed by the Vatican, they had vast resources. The vodouians on the other hand had secret meeting places, and kept their rituals closely guarded until very recently. This is on account of several things. First, unlike Catholicism, vodou does not call for a special place in order to perform ceremonies and contact the spirit world. Secondly and most importantly, because of years of persecution during which vodou worship places were burned, the only way to keep practicing was to do so in secrecy.

While in church the priest alone can be the contact with the sacred world, in vodou each and every believer can be a channel to the spirit world. This is best shown in a ritual where the followers of vodou are "possessed" by lwas or by spirits from the world beyond. Possession is achieved by beating the drums, dancing, singing and drinking. It is almost always done in public. The spirits manifest themselves in a human body to make their wishes known. The Catholic churchs’ view on such a ritual is obviously horrendous. In Catholicism, in order to get in touch with higher powers, one must fast, meditate and remain in silence. We can therefor see how when looking through the eyes of the church, such an occurrence as a vodou possession is an abomination and must be exorcised. We can see how through the eyes of the church and the western civilization, vodou has taken on a negative image.

Beside the dogmatic differences, there are the differences created by political and social situations. The catholic church which was endorsed as the official religion of Haiti by the ruling political party, was supported financially by the upper ruling class at any given time in Haiti’s history. The ruling classes had a majority of white colonialists which were closely associated with the Catholic church. Vodou on the other hand was followed mostly by the lower classes who lacked financial resources and political/social power and were suppressed in many different forms.

The reasons for assimilation of Catholicism into Vodou

The assimilation of many catholic features and practices into vodou took place over a long period of time and for many different reasons. The most meaningful of these reasons is the oppression that the enslaved Africans had to withstand for many centuries. Their religious beliefs and practices were suppressed in every possible way. Vodou was outlawed, so that it was only possible to practice late at night, secretively. This would explain the mistaken way vodou is viewed in the western world today, as a dark, evil cult.

Repeatedly, the church endorsed anti-superstition campaigns. During these campaigns they would seize and burn any instrument that was associated with vodou rituals (Metraux, 78).

The missionaries were also greatly responsible for many laws that were passed to make sure the enslaved people could not gather to practice. It was illegal for them to celebrate weddings or funerals without the attendance of a catholic priest. There were also laws passed in 1758 and in 1777 making it illegal to sing, other than during the performance of field work (Desmangles,26). As singing and dancing, as well as beating the drums is a major part of most vodou rituals, this made it almost impossible to practice in urban areas, or areas where the possibility of being heard was great. Another law that was passed solely for oppression purposes is the law prohibiting the sale of goats. Since goats are many times used as sacrifice to the lwas (spirits), the government tried to stop this practice by making it difficult to purchase a goat.

In addition to the suppression brought on by local laws and the local clergy, the Code Noir, written in 1685, and passed down from the French government, which initially would appear to be a positive change, actually added to the religious oppression (Desmangles,19). Although granting some rights to slaves and affranchis (coloreds), it also stated that all slaves must be baptized, thereby affirming the elimination of religious practices. It also plainly stated that vodou can not be practiced in the colony.

It would be fair to say, that vodou survived for centuries, not only despite oppression by the European colonialists and the Catholic church, but perhaps because of it. The more laws were passed against the practice of vodou, the stronger it took hold of many Haitians. The need to hold on to African traditions and their ancestry was fortified by the oppression. When comparing vodou with west African religions that are practiced today, it is easy to see that many African ways are still kept. The attitude toward death, meal preparation, social rituals and more are very similar (Wentz,59). Vodou also gave the enslaved people the spirit needed to revolt. Many vodou believers and initiates took a large part in the Haitian revolution for independence. Guided by the spirit world, with which they personally had contact through vodou rituals, their motivation was high.

The Assimilation of Roman Catholicism into vodou

Mostly for appearances sake, the enslaved Africans adopted Catholicism. Outwardly, for social appearances, they would practice Catholicism. This helped keep them out of trouble with the law as well as with the plantation owners. It also helped them gain social recognition among the Europeans. They would attend Sunday mass and take communion. No other choice was given them.

Yet whenever possible they would use the catholic rituals to carry out their own beliefs. Therefore, when dancing and singing was abolished, because of fear from vodou practices, the enslaved vodou believers would dance and sing to the Catholic saints, having them represent vodou lwas. Unable to celebrate their holy days according to the African calendar, since the work on the plantations proceeded as usual, they would celebrate on the nearest catholic holiday. A wonderful example is the commemoration of Legba, keeper of the gates. This celebration in west African religions today is still celebrated at the beginning of their calendar year which corresponds with harvest time - the end of spring. Today in vodou however, it is celebrated on All Saints Day at the end of the fall.

Not only has the date changed, but Legba himself is associated strongly with Saint Peter. The major reason for the association of lwas with Catholic saints can be found in lithographs (Desmangles,112). Saint Peter is depicted in most lithographs found in Haiti, holding keys - the key to the church. As in Vodou Mythology, Legba is the keeper of the gates to the spirit world, the keys would symbolize him. This association, can be seen with many other saints. It is one of the clearest visual ways in which Catholicism has been incorporated into vodou. Some further examples of this are Saint Patrick and Saint John the Baptist. Saint John’s cloths resemble very much those of Haitian peasants. He has a sack across his shoulders. The Vodouiants interpret him to be Zaka - the lwa in charge of farmers and growth. As for Saint Patrick, he is depicted surrounded by snakes which according to Catholic mythology he threw into the ocean. In vodou mythology, Damballah is a lwa which is very closely associated with snakes. Therefore these two images fused together in the minds of the followers of vodou. In every ounfu (a place where vodou is practiced) one can find a picture of Saint Patrick, along with other Catholic lithographs, yet when vodou practitioners are asked, they refer to these by the name of the vodou lwa. Many times these vodouiants are not even aware that it is a Catholic saint depicted.

Another visual symbol that is believed many times to prove the assimilation of vodou and Catholicism is the symbol of the cross. It is widely found in many different vodou rituals as well as in ounfus. Although the use of this symbol by vodousants was probably made stronger over the centuries of close association with the church, the cross itself is deeply rooted in vodou mythology. According to vodou mythology, the cross symbolizes the creation of the universe. When the Godhead Mawu Lisa created the world , she moved to the four corners of the universe, thereby creating a cross (Desmangles, 142). The cross still symbolizes the creation and the communication between the two worlds, that of the spirits and the of humans, not only in vodou but in many West African religions still practiced today. It is possible that as has happened with many other symbols and practices over the ages, the African cross would have disappeared from vodou practice, were it not to have been reinforced by the Catholic cross. But as with the lithographs of the saints, the enslaved people learned to interpret the Catholic cross in the light of their religious beliefs and traditions.

Baptism is another ritual which closely associates vodou with catholicism. Not only is it practiced in both religions, the word baptism is used in both cases. Indeed the vodouiants use the term as they took it from the Catholic church. This ritual also holds the same meaning for both religions. It is a rite of purification that introduces the initiate into the sacred community. Outwardly, the ceremony itself is very similar. In the vodou baptism, the pret savanne is present and as in the catholic baptism, he sprinkles holy water on the initiates. The pret savanne also reads and chants Catholic prayers. In vodou the role of the pret savanne is that of a representative of the Catholic church, although he may not have been ordained by the church or even recognized by it. He is present in many vodou rituals, but his role is insignificant compared to that of the oungan (the vodou priest). An interesting point is that when looking at vodou practices in rural areas, the pret savanne has no role in baptisms, and sometimes does not exist at all. This indicates that the role of the pret savanne was most probably originally created to appease the church, and slowly worked it’s way into part of the vodou ritual.

As far back as 1722, there are cases of Catholic communion and the use of Holy Water mixed in with vodou beliefs and rituals (Metraux,45). There are also instances of enslaved people falling ill and calling for a priest to help them, thinking that receiving a sacrament will cure their illness. From these cases we can see that the intermixing of vodou and Catholicism is a process which has been taking place for centuries.

Conclusion

When looking at vodou practiced in Haiti today, it is evident that it is a unique religion. Originating with West African religions it has changed greatly. The use of many catholic symbols are evident as an integral part of vodou rituals. Many Haitians practice both religions today. For these people there is no contradiction in such a practice. Each religion has its time and place and fulfills a different need. Since many people for centuries have had to practice both religions, Catholicism in order to be socially and politically acceptable, and vodou in order to relate to their ancestry, it has become a social norm in today’s Haiti. As Leslie G. Desmangles notes in her book The Faces of the Gods, "Because Vodou was not allowed in the colony, they learned to conceal their practice of these traditions behind the veil of Catholicism."

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Desmangles, Leslie G., 1992, The Faces of The Gods: Vodou and Roman Catholicism in Haiti, Chapel Hill, NC, The University of North Carolina Press

2. Metraux, Alfred, 1959, Voodoo in Haiti, New York, NY, Schocken Books

3. Wentz, Richard E., 1990, Religion in the New World, Minneapolis, Mn, Fortress Press

4. Laguerre, Michel S., 1982, Urban Life in the Caribbean, Cambridge, MA, Schenkman Publishing Company, Inc.

This site was last updated on Tuesday, July 04, 2000
www.saxakali.com