Florida Catholic | Creole Newspaper Launched

Creole newspaper launched

Monthly Vwa Katolik is an effort of priests, volunteers from predominantly Haitian parishes.

ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FLORIDA CATHOLIC MIAMI BUREAU EDITOR

Published: 07.02.08

MIAMI | South Florida’s Creole-speaking community now has a Catholic newspaper that speaks its language.

Vwa Katolik (Catholic Voice) published its first issue in March. The eight-page, parish-bulletin-sized publication is printed on glossy paper in full color and has a circulation of 2,100.

It is a joint effort of the priests and parishioners of the half-dozen predominantly Haitian parishes in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, according to Father Patrick Charles, parochial vicar at St. James Parish in North Miami.

Each of the parishes involved has identified a couple of people who are willing to help – either by writing news articles or reflections, taking pictures or delivering the newspaper to the parishes.

“We have so many people here who are so talented,” Father Charles said.

Some of the articles in Vwa Katolik are written in Creole, others in French, still others in English.

Father Charles explained that “when it comes to reading, some of (the people) like to read better in French,” the language they learned in school. Creole, the spoken language in Haiti, did not have an official written alphabet until a few years ago.

The English-language articles are directed at young people who have grown up in south Florida.

The publication features a mix of spiritual articles, local news, news of special interest to Haitians and some poetry. The April edition featured two cover stories: one on the 25th anniversary of the predominantly Haitian Divine Mercy Mission in Fort Lauderdale; the other a statement from Jesuit priests in Haiti regarding the rising food prices that are worsening the situation of hunger and misery in the country.

“There are some issues that are proper to the Haitians. We want to be a complement to the Florida Catholic,” Father Charles said.

He added that the goal of Vwa Katolik is to convey “information, formation and prayer” so that Haitian Catholics will “love the church more, be formed and involved.”

This is not the first Creole-language publication to exist in the archdiocese. Bishop Thomas Wenski, now bishop of Orlando, published a Creole-newspaper when he was pastor of Notre Dame d’Haiti in Miami in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Although most of the work on Vwa Katolik is done by volunteers, the cost of printing and delivering each edition is about $1,000 a month.

“Even the volunteers (who deliver the paper), we want to give them something for gas,” Father Charles said.

The priests are hoping businesses in the Haitian community will advertise to help offset the costs of the newspaper.

Father Charles said the first two issues were underwritten by Father Alberto Cutié, general director of Pax Catholic Communications Inc., which oversees all of the archdiocese’s radio programming and the monthly Spanish-language newspaper, La Voz Católica.

At the end of June, Radio Ke Pozé, the archdiocese’s Creole-language programming, will be heard once again on Radio Paz 830 AM, the archdiocesan station that broadcasts 24 hours a day in Spanish. (English-language programming is heard on WLVJ 1040 AM.)

The change was prompted by archdiocesan budget cuts. It cost $20,000 a year to lease time on a 24-hour Creole-language station, Father Charles explained.

“We are beginning at a difficult time,” he admitted. “But we hope with the Holy Spirit we can continue” to publish Vwa Katolik.

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