page_title: Religion in Haiti
section_title: Catholicism
hierarchical_section_title: Religion in Haiti / Christianity / Catholicism
caption_attribution_description: English: The cathedral of Cap-Haitien. Français&#160;: La cathédrale de Cap-Haïtien.
context_page_description: Haiti, for much of its history and including present-day has been prevailingly a Christian country, primarily Roman Catholic, although in some instances it is profoundly modified and influenced through syncretism. A common syncretic religion is Vodou, which combined the West African religions of the African slaves with Catholicism and some Native American strands; it shows similarities to Cuban Santería. The constitution of Haiti establishes the freedom of religion and does not establish a state religion, although the Catholic Church receives some preferential treatment.
  The largest Christian denomination in the country is Roman Catholicism, which is estimated to be about 55 percent of the population according to the 2018 CIA World Factbook, and 57 percent according to the Pew Research Center. The historical background is very much due to the French influence brought about through the newly conquered territories.
  Protestantism has grown in recent years and Protestants are currently estimated by the CIA World Factbook to form 28.5% of the population, while the Pew Research Center estimates their share to be nearly 30 percent.
context_section_description: The predominant denomination is Roman Catholicism. Similar to the rest of Latin America, Saint-Domingue was built up by Roman Catholic European powers such as the Spanish and the French. Following in this legacy, Catholicism was in the Haitian constitution as its official state religion until 1987. According to recent estimates by the CIA World Factbook and Pew Research Center, between 55 and 60% of Haitians are Catholics. Pope John Paul II visited Haiti in 1983. In a speech in the capital of Port-au-Prince, he criticized the government of Jean-Claude Duvalier. It is believed that the impact of this speech on the Catholic bureaucracy in Haiti contributed to his removal in 1986.
  According to the Catholic Church in Haiti, the 10 dioceses of the two ecclesiastical provinces of Haiti include 251 parishes and about 1,500 Christian rural communities. The local clergy has 400 diocesan priests and 300 seminarians. There are also 1,300 religious missionary priests belonging to more than 70 religious order and fraternities. Vocations to the priesthood are plentiful.
caption: Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption in Cap-Haïtien
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