Religion in Haiti

For much of its history and up to the present day, Haiti has been prevailingly a Christian country, primarily Catholic, although in practice often profoundly modified and influenced through syncretism.

[4] Similar to the rest of Latin America, Saint-Domingue was built up by Catholic European powers such as the Spanish and the French.

[4] According to recent estimates by the CIA World Factbook and Pew Research Center, between 55 and 60% of Haitians are Catholics.

Its cathedral, Holy Trinity (French: Cathédrale Sainte Trinité) located in the corner of Avenue Mgr.

Guilloux and Rue Pavée in downtown Port-au-Prince, has been destroyed six times, including in the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

[9] Protestant missionaries have been active in Haiti since the early 19th century, with Evangelical missions increasing by the 1970s to convert large numbers of Haitians.

During the season of Lent, Vodou societies create parading musical bands for a festival called Rara, and fulfill religious obligations in local spaces such as streams, rivers, and trees.

[23] In 2000, Nawoon Marcellus, a member of Fanmi Lavalas from Saint-Raphaël, became the first Muslim elected to the Chamber of Deputies of Haiti.

[31] The Association of Religion Data Archives (relying mostly on the World Christian Encyclopedia) estimated some 21,000 Baháʼís in Haiti in 2005 and about the same in 2010.

[32] Sephardic Jews arrived in Saint-Domingue during the first days of the colonial period, despite that they were banned in the official Catholic edicts.

[33] There is a group of Judaism predominantly residing in Port-au-Prince, where the community today meets at the home of businessman billionaire Gilbert Bigio, a Haitian of Syrian descent.

In November 1947, his father played a significant role in Haiti's support for the statehood of Israel in a vote to the United Nations.

Religious groups are not required to register with the government, but may do so in order to receive special standing in legal proceedings, tax exemptions, and civil recognition for marriage and baptismal certificates.

The government has continually failed to recognize marriages performed by Haitian Vodou practitioners, despite it being a registered religion.

Government officials claim that they are working with the Vodou community to establish a certification process for their clergy in order to resolve this issue.