By Paula Day

The Catholic Community in Metro Atlanta has many faces, some indistinguishable in the city's cultural diversity.

One small group, estimated between 1,000 and 2,000, is dispersed variously in Marietta, Decatur, Jonesboro and the city of Atlanta. They are Haitian and trace their heritage to that poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Many have been in the United States for some time, coming to the Atlanta area via the Midwest and Northeast.

Recently Haitian Father Dessier Prédélus visited Atlanta from the Caribbean republic and celebrated Mass in Creole for the Haitian community here. The Montfortan (Company of Mary) priest was a guest of the pastor of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Father John Adamski game his nod of approval when several members of the community interested in securing the services of a Creole-speaking priest arranged for Father Prédélus' visit. The priest arrived in Atlanta in early August and is scheduled to return to Haiti Sept. 10.

Father Prédélus, who speaks limited English, felt more comfortable communicating through an interpreter, Immacula Pierre. Mrs. Pierre immigrated to the U.S. in 1970 and now is a member of Corpus Christi parish in Stone Mountain.

Reluctant to talk of the political situation in Haiti for fear of endangering those with whom he works, Father Prédélus did admit he is "very, very hopeful" because of the expected return of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide next month.

"All Haitians are getting more home," the priest said, but they do not want the U.A.-imposed embargo lifted entirely until the ousted president is back and in power. "It is very slick in Haiti," the priest explained. "One day you are up, the next day you fall down."

The 39-year-old priest was born in Jean-Rabel, Haiti. Presently he is assigned with two other members of his congregation to parish in Gros-Morne. He supervises 12 grammar schools taught by Religious and pastors seven of the 15 chapels or missions which comprise the parish. Catholics make up 75 percent of the Haitian population.

Poverty is rampant in Haiti. Recently, Ohio Representative Tony Hall returned from a three-day visit and reported his shock and dismay at conditions on the island. "I was stunned by the suffering I saw, especially among children and older people," he said at a round-table discussion sponsored by the Congressional Hunger Caucus. Eighty percent of grammar school children go no further in their education because they do not have the needed funds, according to Father Prédélus. In the schools under his care, 35 to 40 pupils are crammed into small, sweltering classrooms. Typhoid, malaria and malnutrition are common, the priest said.

"The situation in Haiti is so severe, so critical," Father Adamski added, "that we as Americans can't comprehend, don't understand the hardships these people live with."

When asked what he considered the greatest need, Father Prédélus unhesitatingly answered "water." In his first parish, animals used the same water source the people used for bathing, drinking and cooking. He solicited $600 from a U.S. cousin and was able to make the necessary changes to provide clean drinking water for his parishioners. "We pray first and then we work together," the priest added, emphasizing the role of trust in God has in the lives of Haitians.

Most people in Haiti are not working, Father Prédélus said. He dreams of a Haiti where "people can find jobs. The Haitian people here are working but still find time to go to church. I would encourage them to keep going."

The priest was met at the airport by an American and a Haitian, which made him "think about the Gospel -- that we are all one in the Lord."

During his stay, Father Prédélus offered Mass in Creole on four Sundays at the shrine for the Haitian community. He visited Haitian families and took part in a prayer group meeting and heard confessions at Corpus Christi. The Sunday before his departure for Haiti, he was the guest at a dinner given by Atlanta Haitians to thank him for his visit.