Priest lives as Christ among the poor

Father Joseph
Father Joseph Philippe, Anne Hastings, Leigh Carter
72 minutes - Not Rated

Father Joseph Philippe, a member of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, is something of a Mother Teresa figure in his native Haiti. He has spent a lifetime in this poor Caribbean island nation trying to help the impoverished citizens of rural Fondwa make better lives for themselves. He started an organization to improve the local community infrastructure, calling it the Association of the Peasants of Fondwa. He established Fonkoze, Haiti’s largest micro-credit bank, which offers financial opportunity and literacy training to poor women and their families. He founded a large elementary and high school, a college, an orphanage, a health clinic, a radio station, a reforestation plan, and a clean-water project. He also has built dozens of homes for poor families.

When much of this work was destroyed by Haiti’s devastating 2010 earthquake, he simply began to rebuild.

Father Joseph, first released in 2015 and now available on Amazon Prime Video, has new immediacy in the wake of the more recent Haitian earthquake and tropical storm of August 2021 — not nearly as deadly, but a setback to human progress nevertheless. But as this heart-rending film reveals, this kindly priest has had to deal with much more than natural disasters. Father Joseph has seen friends and associates murdered by those who oppose their work on behalf of the poor. Lifting rural people out of poverty, it seems, finds little or no support from either the Haitian government or the country’s powerful citizens. Last July’s assassination of President Jovenele Moise provides evidence that political corruption continues to coincide with Haiti’s long history of economic repression.

“The poor you will always have with you,” Jesus told his apostles. Despite the scope and hopelessness of human suffering, the work of being Christ’s hands among the poor must continue. With constant good humor and a smile on his face, Father Joseph exemplifies what it means to be a Christ-for-others in Haiti. (For more on his work, visit apfhaiti.org, fonkoze.org, and ufondwa.org.)

GERALD KORSON is a Legatus magazine editorial consultant and staff writer.