François-Wolff Ligondé
Haitian Roman Catholic archbishop (1928–2013)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
François-Wolff Ligondé (January 17, 1928 in Les Cayes – April 8, 2013) was a Haitian Roman Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Port-au-Prince from 1966 to 2008. He was the first Haitian to hold the office.
François-Wolff Ligondé | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Port-au-Prince | |
| Church | Roman Catholic |
| Archdiocese | Port-au-Prince |
| See | Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption |
| Appointed | 20 August 1966 |
| Retired | 1 March 2008 |
| Predecessor | François-Marie-Joseph Poirier |
| Successor | Joseph Serge Miot |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 11 July 1954 by Rémy Jérôme Augustin |
| Consecration | 28 October 1966 by Antonio Samorè |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 17 January 1928 |
| Died | 8 April 2013 (aged 85) |
Ligondé was born in 1928 in Les Cayes. He was ordained to the priesthood on 11 July 1954 by Monsignor Rémy Augustin, the first Haitian-born bishop and auxiliary bishop of Port-au-Prince.[1][2] He became a professor at the Collège Saint Louis of Jérémie before being sent to study in Fribourg, Switzerland.[3] Ligondé was appointed Archbishop of Port-au-Prince on 20 August 1966.[4] Ligondé's appointment came five days after the signing of a concordat between Haiti and the Holy See which allowed François Duvalier to personally nominate high-ranking Haitian clerics.[5]
Ligondé was the first Haitian-born Archbishop of Port-au-Prince, his predecessors having been white Europeans (mostly Frenchmen). Prior to the concordat, Duvalier had engaged in a lengthy struggle with the Catholic magisterium to "nationalize" the Haitian church and staff its hierarchy with black Haitian clerics.[6] Duvalier expelled Ligondé's immediate predecessor, French-born François Poirier, along with other senior clerics (including Msgr. Augustin), in 1960.[7]
As a result of his patronage by François Duvalier, Ligondé was a close ally of Duvalier and his son Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, and frequently praised them in his sermons.[8][9] He presided over Papa Doc's funeral and the opulent wedding of Baby Doc and Michèle Bennett (also Ligondé's niece) in Port-au-Prince Cathedral in 1980, which was broadcast live to the nation.[10]
After the fall of Baby Doc, Ligondé found himself at odds with Salesian priest and emerging politician Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who characterized Ligondé as a "faithful servant" of the Duvaliers.[9] In January 1991, Ligondé reportedly "fled into the night clad only in undershorts" when mobs attacked the Port-au-Prince Cathedral during a coup attempt against President Aristide. In a sermon shortly prior to the attack, he compared Aristide's government to a Bolshevik dictatorship. This statement was "seen as giving the green light for the coup". Ligondé and other church leaders subsequently went into hiding.[11] Although his pastoral role as archbishop ended after this incident, he remained archbishop until his retirement on 1 March 2008.[4][12]
Ligondé died on 8 April 2013. His funeral at the Church of the Sacred Heart in Turgeau was attended by then-president Michel Martelly and other notables.[12]
