About 350 people filled St. William Catholic Church in Northeast Philadelphia on October 17 for a Mass marking 50 years of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia's Haitian Catholic community, OSV News reported. The date was also the anniversary of the death of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, father of Haitian independence.

The community began in 1976 as a prayer group in a West Philadelphia home owned by the Cantave family. It moved in 1977 to the former Most Blessed Sacrament Parish, where it stayed until 1986, and today gathers at St. William in the north of the city and St. Barbara in the west.

The Mass, in French, Haitian Creole and English, was celebrated by the community's chaplain, Father Eugène Almonor, who called the anniversary “50 years of faith.” Msgr. Pierre André Pierre of Rosedale, New York, preached, and lay leader Marie Vidala Moise said “the young people have to take over.”

The celebration came as the Trump administration moves to end Temporary Protected Status for Haitians; more than 330,000 held the status as of 2025. Father Almonor said many families face financial hardship and that the community helps its members with food and support.