On the Jan. 1 celebration of Haiti’s Independence Day, Cardinal Wilton Gregory linked that landmark event – which created the first Black nation in the Western Hemisphere – with the Emancipation Proclamation issued on New Year’s Day in 1863 that declared the freedom of enslaved Blacks in the breakaway Southern states. 

The cardinal made the connection in his homily at an annual Mass celebrating Haitian independence at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Washington, where many members of the archdiocese’s Haitian community worship weekly. Haiti gained its independence from France on Jan. 1, 1804.

“Both of our communities celebrate freedom on this particular day that also coincides with the church’s Solemn Feast of Mary, the Mother of God,” Cardinal Gregory said. “Jan. 1 is a day to rejoice in freedom – freedom from foreign domination, freedom from human bondage, and freedom from the power of sin and death in Mary’s generous acceptance to become the mother of God and to share in God’s plan for human salvation.” 

The cardinal added, “I praise God that we can be together in such a festive and happy moment during the Christmas season to rejoice at the great gift of freedom and fellowship.” 

To Haitian Catholics assembled at the Mass, he said, “Your deep Catholic faith has been a source of security and hope for you throughout the 220 years of your national independence and remains so even today.” 

Cardinal Gregory added, “You have endured and continue to trust in the goodness of the human community as the world continues to consider carefully how best to strengthen the social fabric and economic future of Haiti. The courageous patience of the Haitian people is a sign of the depth of your faith and internal strength of character.” 

The cardinal cited a need “for an even deeper freedom that Haitians, African Americans and all people need to pursue together. It is the freedom from sin and hatred, a freedom from intolerance and corruption, a freedom from those activities that keep the human spirit shackled and imprisoned by lies and deceit.” 

He pointed to the example of Mary, “this young Jewish woman,” who was “courageous beyond her years in answer God’s offer to trust him.” 

Cardinal Gregory added, “Fear is the element that is used so successfully in holding the human person captive. We are often afraid to trust – to trust God and to trust one another. Fortunately, those courageous heroes who led the revolution that resulted in Haiti’s independence were not held captive by their fears. We have much to learn from our shared history.” 

A choir of more than two dozen singers and musicians led the singing in Creole and also in Greek and Latin for different acclamations during the Mass. A trio of adolescent girls performed a liturgical dance during the singing of the Gloria. 

The offertory procession was highlighted by seven women parading down the center aisle of Sacred Heart, all of them balancing on their heads baskets filled with fruits and vegetables representing Haiti’s bounty. 

Sylinise Datisbhre was at the Mass with her mother, Annastella Cadet. Cadet was born in Haiti, but moved to the United States 26 years ago and became a U.S. citizen. Her U.S.-born daughter said her mother instilled Haitian culture and traditions in her. “We come here every New Year’s Day,” she added. 

Mother and daughter last traveled to Haiti in 2017 for the funeral of a relative. “Our country has big problems,” Cadet said. Already the Caribbean’s poorest country, Haiti has been buffeted by a half-dozen hurricanes and tropical storms in the past 20 years, although their combined toll pales to the massive death and destruction from a devastating earthquake in 2010 that left at least 160,000 dead and ten times that many homeless. 

Since then, Haiti was beset by a massive cholera outbreak that killed 16,000 and sickened another million people. The neighboring Dominican Republic has declared its ethnic Haitians as noncitizens and tried to force them to the Haitian side of the border. Ongoing political instability reached a peak with the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise inside the presidential palace, and the rise of armed gangs in Haiti’s cities is an indicator of the government’s inability to preserve order. 

Fabrice Cory credited his parents and grandparents for keeping the spirit of Haiti alive in him as well, including learning how to speak Creole. He says he keeps up on Haiti through social media and by watching documentaries on YouTube about his homeland, most recently focusing on health issues and gang violence. 

Masses in French Haitian Creole are celebrated Sundays at 4:30 p.m. at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart. Masses are celebrated in French and Creole for Haitian Catholics at 2 p.m. Sundays at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Takoma Park. St. Camillus Parish in Silver Spring has a French Mass at 2:30 p.m. Sundays that Haitian Catholics attend.