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24644: VISHNUSURF (reply) re: 24643: Pilling re: Remembering the Pope John Paul II



VISHNUSURF@aol.com


Pope John Paul II did indeed visit Haiti in March of 1983. What he refused to do was cater to the Duvalier dictatorship (unlike Mother Theresa!), instead denouncing the rampant poverty and human rights abuse in the country with the resounding words at the airport:

"IL FAUT QUE QUELQUE CHOSE CHANGE ICI !!!"

This quite empowered the Tilegliz movement, and surely inspired Aristide in his rise to political power. Just how much has changed in Haiti concretely since 1983 is debatable, though clearly the masses today feel emboldened to speak out like they never could under the Duvaliers, and that at least is quite meritorious. I always had the impression that this pope was deeply loved by many Haitian Catholics, poor and wealthy alike. One strange image rebounded into my memory as I have been thinking so much about John Paul's legacy over the last couple of days... strange as it is revelaling, I think. Visiting the home of a very wealthy Lebanese-Haitian family in PAP one day, I was struck by the juxtaposition of two large, ornately framed photographic portraits dominating the dining room: one of John Paul II, and the other of Yasser Arafat. I still wonder what to make of that.