Canadian killed in Haiti

[Guest Kenneth]

Richard E. Joyal, age 62 - for all his work helping the people of that country he gets shot three times in the back by a couple of thugs. RIP.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/04/25/haiti-quebec-priest-killed.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/04/25/richard-joyal-canadian-priest-killed-haiti_n_3156313.html

[-TSS-]

Sad news. However, I can't help asking as the news said the victim was a missionary, even though voodoo is still strong in Haiti isn't it officially a christian country?

[Guest American Woman]

Sad news. However, I can't help asking as the news said the victim was a missionary, even though voodoo is still strong in Haiti isn't it officially a christian country?

Yes, it is sad news.

Re: the official religion - Roman Catholicism was the official religion, but "its official status ended with the enactment of the 1987 Constitution" according to this site: http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2003/24496.htm

While about 80% are Catholic, half still practice voodoo, though from what I've read, the practice has been declining since the earthquake. http://www.christianpost.com/news/haitians-turning-to-christ-abandoning-voodoo-practices-2-years-after-earthquake-68124/

[cybercoma]

The history of voodoo, o'beah, and other religions in the Caribbean is an interesting one. Needless to say, missionaries tried destroying them. Colonialists that owned slaves tried destroying those religions too because they thought it was a way for the slaves to organize and revolt. A lot of the islands have laws on the books to this day that outlaw the practice of those faiths, which all stems from tensions in the Early Modern era and the subsequent proliferation of the missionaries in the 19th century. By the turn of the 20th century voodoo (and other similar religions) had been outlawed in most of the Caribbean.

[-TSS-]

Isn't the Dominican Republic a relatively wealthy country by Latin American standards? Even if it were not it is still much better off than Haiti which is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. The two countries share a small island of Hispaniola. I wonder how stressed the border-agency of the D Rep must be.