There are sayings about Haiti that go something like this: “Haitians are 70 percent Catholic, 30 percent Protestant, and 100 percent Voodoo.”
The precise numbers might be up for debate, but there is a lot of truth in that statement.
Most Haitians are Roman Catholic, while a growing number claim to be Protestant (estimates range from 20 to 30 percent). But surveys have found the vast majority of Haitians – regardless of religious affiliation – hold at least some Voodoo beliefs.
Voodoo (also Voudou) can be loosely defined as a patchwork of spiritual beliefs, practices and superstitions brought to Haiti by African slaves more than two centuries ago. Compared to most major world religions, it is loosely structured and often improvised by its practitioners.
Perhaps for that reason, it is also not well understood.
Voodoo most often takes the form of animism (the belief that everything in nature has souls or spirits) and syncretism (a blending of animism with other religious faiths such as Christianity). Voodoo is similar to many religions practiced in Africa and other Caribbean nations.
As in any religion, Voodoo is practiced in varying degrees. Some Haitians are thoroughly secular. Others only nominally believe in superstitions and “wives’ tales” with Voodoo roots. And still others practice it zealously – particularly Voodoo priests, priestesses, and witch doctors.
As with any religion, Voodoo is also subject to manipulation by its leaders, who sometimes use it to gain power, abuse others, and fatten their wallets.
Northwest Haiti Christian Mission believes that any religion that does not acknowledge Christ as the Son of God and Savior of the world ultimately leads us away from God. As such, Voodoo spiritual beliefs are a real and powerful obstacle to a close relationship with God.
We also believe that Christ has overcome the world – including Voodoo – and that He invites everyone to believe in Him.
Voodoo and Haitian History
As the story goes, the Haitian revolution kicked off on a stormy August night in 1791, just outside Cap Haitien at a place called Bois Caiman. A group of slaves, led by a Voodoo priest named Boukman, met together and vowed to overthrow their white oppressors. According to some accounts, someone sacrificed a pig and the assembled group drank the pig’s blood. Eight days later, the uprising began.
It is often said that during this ceremony, Haiti’s soon-to-be leaders made a pact with Satan, dedicating the land to him in exchange for victory.
This story is taken as fact by many Christians, both Haitian and non-Haitian, and is often given in response to the question, “Why is Haiti so poor?” Because this is a profound statement with serious consequences for Haitians in terms of how they are perceived by others and how their nation is understood, it is worth examining.
The details of the Bois Caiman meeting are, in fact, challenging to either prove or disprove, because very little historical account exists surrounding the gathering.
To our knowledge, historians and scholars have not found any written record of a satanic pact being made. Letters written shortly after the Bois Caiman incident even suggest that revolutionary leaders were praying to God for help during the rebellion:
God who fights for the innocent is our guide, He will not forsake us. … Death or Liberty! May God grant it to us without the shedding of blood. Then all our wishes will be fulfilled. 1
Haiti’s fight for independence was hardly blood-free, but the French were defeated after more than a decade of struggle. When Haiti’s founding fathers drafted various versions of the nation’s constitution, it included no language about Satan or even Voodoo. The Constitution of 1807 established religious freedom but made Roman Catholicism Haiti’s official religion – stating that no other religion (including Voodoo) could be practiced in public.2 Many scholars believe, however, that the declaration of Catholicism as the official religion was largely a political move by then President Toussaint L’Ouverture to appease various European powers.3
In the 20th and 21st centuries, Haiti’s government has welcomed Protestant missionaries to the country, though Voodoo leaders have often opposed missionary efforts.
In a controversial move in 2003, Haiti’s Catholic president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, made Voodoo an official religion in the country, giving certain Voodoo ceremonies such as marriage equal standing with Christian ones. Many historians believe that Aristide’s decision, like L’Ouverture’s before him, was also largely to curry political favor.3
Proponents of the Bois Caiman devil-pact theory say Haiti has lost God’s blessing, as evidenced by Haiti’s status as the Western Hemisphere’s most-destitute and least-stable country.
Critics of the theory say it ignores historical factors of Haiti’s poverty, such as discriminatory foreign policies, unfair trade practices, and a tradition of corrupt and oppressive rulers.
Critics also point to the relative prosperity of some predominantly “non-Christian” nations and ask why they have fared so much better than Haiti.
Whatever the true case may be, Northwest Haiti Christian Mission exists to free people from all modern forms of slavery and bondage – whether spiritual, economic, social, or material. We believe that the God who created the universe offers hope and redemption that no other religion can.
Footnotes
1 Source: CĂ©saire, A. 1981. Toussaint L’Ouverture: La rĂ©volution française et le problème colonial. Page 196. Editions PrĂ©sence Africaine.
2 Source: Constitution of 1807 (of Haiti). Title VII – Religion. Bob Corbett.
3 Source: Coupeau, Steeve. 2008. The History of Haiti. Greenwood Press.
For additional resources on religion in Haiti, click here.
