Voodoo is 'big social problem' for Haiti, says new Catholic cardinal

Haiti's first Catholic cardinal has described voodoo as a "big social problem" for the desperately poor country, arguing that the religion offers "magic" but no real solutions to a population deprived of justice and a political voice.

Chibly Langlois, who was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in February, linked Haiti's belief system to its political problems, which he says force poor Haitians - the overwhelming majority of a population of 10 million - to seek supernatural solutions.

"If a person is well educated and has the financial means, they will go to a doctor [instead of the voodoo priest] when they get sick. If that same person went to the court to get justice they would not go to the voodoo priest to get revenge. It's a big problem for the church. And for Haiti," he said.

About 80 per cent of Haitians are Catholic; roughly half the population also practises voodoo - though many do not do so in public.

"That's why voodoo ceremonies are conducted at night-time. They are ashamed to say they practise it," said Langlois.

Voodoo, which has its roots in west Africa's pantheist religions but incorporates images and rituals of Catholicism, has played a central role in Haitian society since before colonial times. A voodoo ceremony in August 1791 is said to have helped trigger Haiti's first big slave insurrection against the French colonisers. It was banned in 1934 and categorised as sorcery in the penal code.

In the 1940s Catholics in Haiti burned voodoo masks and drums in a series of "anti-superstition" campaigns.