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Haiti Protestantism
Protestantism has existed in Haiti since the earliest
days of
the republic. By the mid-nineteenth century, there were
small
numbers of Protestant missions, principally Baptist,
Methodist,
and Episcopalian. Protestant churches, mostly from North
America,
have sent many foreign missions to Haiti. Almost half of
Haiti's
Protestants were Baptists; Pentecostals were the second
largest
group. Many other denominations also were present,
including
Seventh Day Adventists, Mormons, and Presbyterians.
Widespread
Protestant proselytization began in the 1950s. Since the
late
1950s, about 20 percent of the population has identified
itself
as Protestant. Protestantism has appealed mainly to the
middle
and the upper classes, and it played an important role in
educational life.
Protestant churches focused their appeal on the lower
classes
long before the Roman Catholics did. Churches and clergy
were
found even in the smaller villages. Protestant clergy used
Creole
rather than French. Schools and clinics provided
much-needed
services. Protestant congregations encouraged baptisms and
marriages and performed them free. For many Haitians,
Protestantism represented an opposition to voodoo. When
people
converted to Protestantism, they usually did not reject
voodoo,
but they often came to view the folk religion as
diabolical. Most
Protestant denominations considered all loua,
including
family spirits, as demons. Some Haitians converted to
Protestantism when they wanted to reject family spirits
that they
felt had failed to protect them. Others chose to become
Protestants merely as a way to gain an alternative form of
protection from misfortune.
François Duvalier, in his struggle with the Roman
Catholic
Church, welcomed Protestant missionaries, especially from
the
United States. Dependent on the government for their
presence in
Haiti, and competing with each other as well as with the
Roman
Catholics, Protestant missions generally accepted the
policies of
the Duvalier regimes. Numerous Protestant leaders did,
however,
join with Roman Catholics in their public opposition to
the
government during the waning days of Jean-Claude
Duvalier's
power.
Data as of December 1989
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