Meet the new apostolate coordinator who will serve Catholic Haitian population
As the number of Catholics from Haiti grows within the Archdiocese of Newark, a new Haitian Apostolate has been appointed to further the ministry’s mission of evangelizing and assisting those who relocate from the Caribbean island.
Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Newark, has appointed Father Dieuseul Adain, V.F., as coordinator of the Haitian Apostolate. Father Adain will continue as dean for the city of Elizabeth and pastor of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary and Saint Michael’s Church in Elizabeth, which comprises Hispanic, Haitian, and English-speaking communities.
Father Adain said the number of Catholic Haitians within the Archdiocese of Newark is at least 2,000. That number has been growing since the “CHNV Parole Program” began in January 2023, which allows for “safe and orderly pathways to the U.S.” for citizens of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. Haitians who have a U.S. sponsor and pass a background check can come to the U.S. for two years to live and work lawfully, using a legal mechanism known as “humanitarian parole,” while they pursue longer-term immigration relief. Those who arrived in 2023 now qualify for TPS (Temporary Protected Status).
Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere due to years of social unrest and devastating natural disasters.
“To have an apostolate for the Haitian people is to acknowledge them as an ethnic group who belong to our Archdiocese as any other ethnic group,” Father Adain said. “It is also a sign of the Catholicity or universality of our Church.”
Father Adain said the Haitians feel welcome within the Archdiocese of Newark. He added that when they celebrate Masses, it is like they are in their own country.
Six Haitian churches in the Archdiocese of Newark have Haitian ministries. Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary and Saint Michael’s in Elizabeth, St. Leo in Irvington, Holy Spirit and Our Lady Help of Christians in East Orange, and St. Patrick in Jersey City have Haitian priests minister to the Haitian people. St. Peter Claver in Montclair also has a pastor from Congo who celebrates a weekly Mass in French, while Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Orange offers a weekly Mass celebrated by a Haitian priest.
Although evangelization is the apostolate’s primary responsibility, Father Adain hopes it can also assist Haitians with access to services.
“My idea as new administrator is to find a place where we all welcome the new Haitian people who just came from Haiti by trying to offer ESL (English as a second language) classes, emigration services, translation, notary services, etc.…” Father Adain said.
Father Adain was born in the city of Gonaives, also known as Haiti’s “city of independence.” In 1997, he obtained a diploma in philosophy and theology from the Pontifical Urban University, which is affiliated with the Grand Séminaire Notre Dame D’ Haiti. He was later ordained a deacon in March 1998 and a priest on June 28, 1998, at the Cathedral of Remembrance in Gonaives by then-Archbishop (now Cardinal and Apostolic Nuncio to the U.S.) Christophe Pierre, who was the Vatican’s ambassador to Haiti at the time.
After five years serving in churches in Haiti, he came to the U.S. and was appointed parochial vicar at Our Lady of the Rosary and St. Michael Church in Elizabeth. He went on to serve at St. Francis Xavier in Newark, Immaculate Conception in Elizabeth, and St. Patrick in Elizabeth, in addition to his current role at Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary and St. Michael.
In 2016, then-Archbishop of Newark John J. Myers appointed him the first Haitian dean of Elizabeth to coordinate pastoral care in the city’s 10 parishes.
Father Adain speaks four languages: Haitian Creole, French, English, and Spanish.
Featured image: Father Dieuseul Adain, V.F., has been appointed as coordinator of the Haitian Apostolate.
