Chibly Langlois

Cardinal Langlois, Haiti's first cardinal, is known almost exclusively for his social and humanitarian work; there is no documented record of public statements by him on contested moral questions such as Amoris laetitia, Fiducia supplicans, abortion or gender. He took part in the 2014 Synod on the Family as president of the Haitian bishops' conference.

No public statement by Cardinal Langlois on the traditional Latin Mass, Traditionis custodes or liturgical questions has been documented. His ministry in Haiti has centred on pastoral and humanitarian needs.

As president of the Haitian bishops' conference, Cardinal Langlois mediated talks between President Michel Martelly, the opposition and parliament in 2013-2014. After the 2021 earthquake, which he survived, he described Haiti's 'catastrophic situation' of poverty, violence and disasters as the cause of Haitian migration to the US border and appealed for international help. Social and humanitarian issues dominate his public ministry.

Pope Francis created Chibly Langlois Haiti's first cardinal in February 2014, a choice widely read as a sign of attention to the peripheries; the announcement came on the anniversary of the 2010 earthquake. He has been loyal to the pope but has not taken a visible public role in promoting the reforms of the pontificate.

Cardinal Langlois has no documented involvement in interreligious initiatives. In 2014 he described voodoo as a 'big social problem' in Haiti, arguing that it offered magic rather than real solutions to people deprived of justice, remarks that drew criticism in the country.

Cardinal Langlois speaks to the media mainly in moments of national crisis, such as after the 2021 earthquake, and otherwise keeps a low public profile. He has been a member of the Holy See's communication dicastery, but his own communication style is sober and focused on Haiti's needs.