Strange Partners?

“Did you see how he kissed the ground, following voodoo ritual? Ah, what power!” exclaimed a voodoo priest when he saw Pope John Paul II kiss the ground during his short visit to Haiti on March 9, 1983. Probably the pope did not have that in mind. Nevertheless, to the inhabitants of Haiti, a land described as 80 percent Catholic and 100 percent voodoo, the pope’s action was a sign of the kinship they feel exists between the Roman Catholic religion and voodooism, according to a report in the Californian newspaper Press-Telegram.

In New York City, Roman Catholic Church officials recently admitted to doubts as to whether they should take action against santeria, a cult originating in Cuba that​—like voodoo—​has a mixture of Catholic and African religious beliefs. Santeria practices include such things as altars in the home, special clothing, charms and potions, spiritism and animal sacrifices. Estimates of the number of adherents in New York City run as high as 300,000, according to the Daily News of January 6, 1983. Why the hesitation to act? Admits Catholic Church official Francisco Dominquez: “Some of these are practices that are abberations of the Catholic faith. But if you say it’s junk, you’re getting rid of a lot of people.”