Mormons and Haitian Vodou: An Interview with Catherine S. Freeman

Join Editor Taylor Petrey as he interviews Catherine S. Freeman about her Fall 2022 article “Drum Rhythms and Golden Scriptures: Reasons for Mormon Conversion within Haiti’s Culture of Vodou” for Dialogue Out Loud #31.

At first glance, it may be difficult to see a relationship between Haitian Vodou and Mormonism.^[1] How could Mormonism, which established and upheld racist policies and doctrines, be associated with a religion born out of Black power?^[2] Connections between Haitian Vodou and Mormonism, however, are worth investigating because thousands of people living in Haiti have been converting to Mormonism since the official opening of an LDS Haitian mission in 1983.