PORTO PRINCIPE (Port-au-Prince), ARCHDIOCESE OF
Archdiocese and capital city of the Republic of Haiti in Central America. It has as its suffragans the dioceses of Les Cayes, Cap-Haïtien, Les Gonaïves, and Port-de-Paix.
Its area is 7,000 sq km with 1,000,000 inhabitants, of whom 900,000 are Catholic; it has 358 churches and 41 parishes, served by 81 diocesan priests and 44 religious; 7 male and 5 female religious communities (Ann. Pont., 1952, p. 321).
The archdiocese was created by Pope Pius IX with a bull dated 3 Oct. 1861. It has almost always had a French clergy; in the 18th century it was served by Dominicans, and after the French Revolution it was held by an unworthy clergy which was however replaced following the Concordat of 1860. Its first archbishop was Msgr. Testard du Cosquer (1863–69); among the others who succeeded him are noted Msgr. Guilloux (1870–85), Msgr. Hillion (1886–90), Msgr. Tonti (1894–1902), and Msgr. J. Conan (1903), who held the first provincial council of Haiti. In the archdiocese there is a minor seminary directed by the Fathers of the Holy Spirit, but the major seminary is in France. There are also other educational institutions, such as the Institute of St. Louis Gonzaga, and others for female education. Among the most notable religious buildings are the new cathedral, the churches of St. Anne, St. Joseph, St. Francis, and St. Anthony.