Gérard Jean-Juste
| Gérard Jean-Juste | |
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Serge Toussaint painting a mural of Gérard Jean-Juste in Little Haiti.
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| Born | February 7, 1946 Cavaellon, Haiti |
| Died | May 27, 2009 (aged 63) Miami, Florida |
| Nationality | Haitian |
| Occupation | Roman Catholic priest |
| Known for | advocacy and work with poor |
Gérard Jean-Juste (February 7, 1946 – May 27, 2009) was a Roman Catholic priest and rector of Saint Claire's church for the poor in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He was also a liberation theologian and a supporter of the Fanmi Lavalas political party, as well as heading the Miami, Florida-based Haitian Refugee Center from 1977 to 1990.
In 2004, he became internationally noted as an opponent of the interim government of Prime Minister Gérard Latortue following the overthrow of the government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide in the 2004 Haitian coup d'état. He was arrested twice for his political work, leading Amnesty International to designate him a prisoner of conscience. In his obituary, the Associated Press described him as being "often considered the Martin Luther King Jr. of Haiti".
Gérard Jean-Juste was born in 1946 in Cavaillon, Haiti. A Roman Catholic, Jean-Juste attended a Canadian seminary before becoming the first Haitian to be ordained in the U.S. at Brooklyn's Church of St. Avila. Following his ordination, he worked for a time in a rural parish in Haiti, an experience which increased his commitment to liberation theology and the service of the poor.
In 1971, however, Jean-Juste was asked to sign a loyalty oath to the Jean-Claude Duvalier government. He refused and fled to the U.S. There he served at Boston's Cathedral of the Holy Cross while also completing bachelor's degrees in engineering technology and civil engineering at Northeastern University.
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