On the 220th Anniversary of Haiti as the first Independent Republic in the Caribbean, the Diocese of Venice, in conjunction with the Haitian Catholic Community, celebrated a Mass at St. Leo the Great Parish in Bonita Springs on Jan. 1, 2025, the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God.
Faithful from throughout the Diocese of Venice attended the Mass which was celebrated by Most Rev. Thomas Wenski, Archbishop of Miami, with Bishop Frank J. Dewane concelebrating. In addition, there were numerous priests from the Diocese who also concelebrated.
Archbishop Wenski praised the strong Haitian Catholic Community in the Diocese of Venice for its rich and thriving culture. The Archbishop reflected upon his time, as a newly ordained priest, when he took a particular interest in the Haitian parishioners and was sent to study Creole and the Haitian culture. From that experience, he assisted in serving the Haitian community in the Archdiocese, which included what would later become the southern counties of the Diocese of Venice in 1984.
“I travelled throughout the Archdiocese of Miami to serve the growing Haitian population and many of my fondest memories were of coming to Southwest Florida,” Archbishop Wenski said. “It is wonderful to be back here celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for such a wonderful group of people.”
The Archbishop also spoke about the celebration of the independence of Haiti and how it importantly falls upon a major celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the World Day of Peace.
Bishop Dewane thanked Archbishop Wenski for accepting his invitation to be a guest of the Diocese of Venice, saying his presence was a blessing as he came to share his time, wisdom and faith with the Haitian Catholic Community here.
“You are important not only because you are here today,” Bishop Dewane said. “Our Church here in the Diocese is all the more blessed to have you here as the richness of your Faith is evident to all.”
Crediting the priests who serve the Haitian Catholic Community in the Diocese, many from Haiti, Bishop Dewane thanked them for their dedication to the Church, to the Diocese and to the people of God.
Father Jean-Marie Fritz Ligondé, Diocesan Haitian Ministry Director and Parochial Vicar at St. Columbkille Parish, thanked Bishop Dewane for his unyielding support of the Haitian Catholic Community, including his support for the annual New Year’s Day celebration.
At the conclusion of the Mass, everyone joined in singing the Haitian National Anthem with many waving small Haitian flags.
Antoine Blaise of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Immokalee was overjoyed to be a part of the New Year’s Day celebration having moved to the Diocese of Venice with his family in 2015. “We are blessed to be here and feel welcomed every day. Today is a great day because we celebrate our homeland and our faith in a special way.”
A cultural celebration and dinner took place in the Parish Hall. This celebration featured, as its first course, the symbolically important joumou soup, a hearty blend of pumpkin (turban squash), potatoes, beef, chili peppers and other ingredients. It was during the colonial period when the people of Haiti were forbidden from eating the soup because they were deemed too “uncivilized” by the French colonists. Therefore, when independence was achieved, the joumou soup became a lasting symbol of freedom.
For the Haitian community, Jan. 1 is both a spiritual day, the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God, and an emotional day commemorating the independence of their homeland. The Haitians defeated the largest and most powerful army at the time, the army of Napoleon, in Cap-Haitien, and Haiti became the second country in the Americas to declare its independence on Jan. 1, 1804.
There are currently Masses celebrated each weekend in Haitian Creole at the following Parishes: St. Charles Borromeo in Port Charlotte; St. Francis Xavier in Fort Myers; St. Michael in Wauchula; Sacred Heart in Bradenton; Our Lady of Guadalupe in Immokalee; and St. Peter the Apostle in Naples. The New Year’s Day celebration is one of the few times the entire community can gather in one place.
