Until the 1980s, Catholic elements in Haitian culture tended to be interpreted exclusively in connection to the forced conversion of the enslaved population under French rule. This changed following John Thornton's groundbreaking research into the development of Christianity in early modern Africa—Kongo in particular—and the awareness that a significant number of enslaved Africans already identified as Christian before their arrival in Saint-Domingue. This article's goal is to go beyond Thornton's research by showing that we can acquire a better understanding of Catholic elements in Haitian culture if we start our analysis in late medieval Iberia. To illustrate this, the article focuses on one of Haiti's most enigmatic cultural traditions, known as Chariopié, Lwalwadi, or, most commonly, Rara. Although this performance has received abundant scholarly interest, questions relating to the origin of its Catholic elements have remained largely unanswered. This is regrettable considering that Rara parades follow the liturgical calendar of Lent and intensify in frequency during Holy Week. Moreover, a key element of Rara consists of the destruction of an effigy of Judas Iscariot, in accordance with the Biblical account of the Easter story. Using a comparative analysis, this article presents a number of remarkable parallels between Rara and late medieval Iberian Lent traditions. To explain these parallels, it claims that enslaved Africans who were familiar with Iberian practices prior to their arrival in the Caribbean established, by their own initiative, a network of mutual aid and burial societies modeled on Afro-Iberian Catholic brotherhoods.

直到 1980 年代，海地文化中的天主教元素往往只被解释为与法国统治下被奴役的人口被迫皈依有关。在约翰·桑顿 (John Thornton) 对基督教在近代早期非洲（尤其是刚果）的发展进行开创性研究后，情况发生了变化，并且意识到大量被奴役的非洲人在抵达圣多明各之前就已经认定为基督徒。本文的目标是超越桑顿的研究，表明如果我们从中世纪晚期的伊比利亚开始分析，我们可以更好地理解海地文化中的天主教元素。为了说明这一点，本文重点介绍了海地最神秘的文化传统之一，即Chariopié、Lwalwadi，或者最常见的是Rara. 尽管这一表演引起了广泛的学术兴趣，但有关其天主教元素起源的问题在很大程度上仍未得到解答。考虑到 Rara 游行遵循四旬期的礼拜日历，并在圣周期间频繁举行，这是令人遗憾的。此外，根据复活节故事的圣经记载，拉拉的一个关键要素包括摧毁加略人犹大的雕像。通过比较分析，本文展示了 Rara 和中世纪晚期伊比利亚四旬期传统之间的许多显着相似之处。为了解释这些相似之处，它声称在抵达加勒比地区之前熟悉伊比利亚习俗的被奴役的非洲人主动建立了，