Hundreds of members of the Haitian Catholic and Voodoo religions celebrated Holy Week this Friday with a pilgrimage to the mountains of Port-au-Prince amid the country’s high climate of insecurity.
During the procession, some carried their passports to ask the Saints for assistance in obtaining visas. The voodoo members carried candles and some were dressed in blue and white.
The pilgrims prayed and sang. Many asked the deities to intervene to achieve their marriage, father a child or gain wealth, even protection for themselves, their children and relatives.
The Good Friday pilgrimage also saw people carrying stones. It has been learned that some pilgrims have decided to sleep in this place until the end of the Greater Week.
Catholics also organized Stations of the Cross during the day. They stopped to pray and sing several times.
In the provincial towns, festivals are held all weekend long with rará bands, a rhythm with religious roots with instruments such as congas and güiros, traditionally enjoyed by hundreds of people.
During the week, street vendors complained of reduced sales in public markets as a result of the economic crisis that hit Haitian families. April 1 and 2 are officially non-working days in Haiti.
These celebrations take place in a context where Haiti is facing a significant increase in the climate of insecurity, characterized in particular by the resumption of war between armed gangs and the increase in kidnapping cases.
Thursday night, four Adventist Christians were kidnapped while providing a live Facebook service in the town of Carrefour, south of Port-au-Prince.
The video of the kidnapping, which has been widely circulated on social media, has sparked outrage among desperate Haitians.
The film shows the terrified religious trying to hide while a man with a long gun places them on the broadcast stage and forces them to leave with him.