Meet Father David Fontaine
Father David Fontaine, is a 50 year old French Catholic diocesan priest living and serving in the midst of the poorest of the poor at Our Lady Star of the Sea church in Cite Soleil, Port au Prince, Haiti.
David first felt called to religious life when he was eight years old during an overnight stay in Ars, France on the way to Lourdes with his mother. There he witnessed for the first time the incorrupt body of the St. Jean Marie Vianney, in the Basillica Cura d’Ars. What caught the attention of the 8 year old boy was the darkened hands of St. Jean Marie Vianney which were a stark difference from his porcelain complexion. When his body was exhumed, it was found dried and darkened, but incorrupt. Today, a wax mask covers his face and would explain the difference in color of skin. Young David recalls hearing it said that St. Vianney’s hands were darkened because he worked so hard for souls. At this time he was filled with a desire to work for souls like the great saint.
After his high school education, David went on to complete two years of canonical studies and from there entered military service where he served as a nurse in a psychiatric ward. During a retreat his desire for souls was quickened and at the age of 25, David began priestly formation. He was ordained a priest from the St. Philip Neri Seminary in 2004 at the age of 32.
Fr. David knew of Mother Teresa’s work and dedication to serving the poor in Haiti and he had a childhood family friend, Sr. Paesie, who worked among the poor in Haiti. He contacted her to inquire if she knew of a Bishop who might receive him. Bishop Dumas was doing the work of organizing a new diocese in Haiti and welcomed his willingness to serve. He arrived at Haiti and was assigned to the Diocese of Anse-a-Veau and Miragoane to the south Haiti.
Over the next 10 years he served in 15 different parishes and as General Vicar to the Archbishop of Port au Prince. Following a retreat in 2019, Fr. David asked to go to Cite Soleil ghetto with its population of 400,000. His Bishop accepted to send him. In February 2020, he went to live in the Brooklyn district of the Cite Soleil slum with a population of 200,000. Now as the Chaplain of Our Lady Star of the Sea and Vice-Chaplain of the prison and within two weeks of his new assignment, he was faced with the outbreak of the Corona virus. Shortly followed by the beginning of the violent and deadly gang wars which have continued to this day.
When Fr. David arrived to Cite Soleil, Sister Paesie had been living in a nearby district of the slum in Cite Soleil for 2 years and had been operating schools, children homes and catechesis reaching 2000 Haitian children.
The conditions within the slum consist of daily physical misery accompanied by moral and physical violence. Amidst these conditions what he finds hopeful is the purity of heart among the children and the elderly. They are easily catechized. They are thirsty to see God. It is easy for them to believe in eternal life for they know that this is not eternal life. He gains strength from the words that Jesus revealed to St. Mother Teresa:
“Go be my light in the hole of the poor, a hole with the light of Christ in it.”
As well, Fr. David continues to implement the words of an admired saint, St. Charles de Foucauld:
“You have to put the contemplative life in the poorest first in order to attract souls….adoration is the net….”
To that end, Fr. David offers daily Mass, adoration, sacraments and rosary. Adoration is attended by 40-50 people daily. When time allows, he visits homes to bless them and to enshrine the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He teaches formation of those seeking baptism for their children by conducting weekly classes over 6 months. In 2022, he has baptized well over 280. In July 2022, amidst the worse 10 days of gang violence and cholera outbreak, 400 died and 200 were injured. The demands for sacraments, medical care and humanitarian need can quickly outpace the limited resources.
Fr. David makes visits twice a month to minister to 4,000 men in the prison with overcrowded conditions similar to that seen in concentration camps. Most of these men are serving 12-14 year terms. In the worse part of the cholera outbreak in the prison he estimated ministering absolution to 1,500. Fr. David’s dream is to one day have the prison chapel of Our Lady of La Salette reconstructed from the damages incurred during the last earthquake. There is no privacy inside the prison and the chapel would offer a dignified space for such privacy.
Father David’s own words best echo the heart of the mission call:
“I felt in my soul the desire to devote myself to live with the poorest in Haiti. I have been learning to know, love and live with this favorite herd of God who teach me what it means to have confidence, patience and peace in pain, and true joy in the little moments of life. When I came to Cité Soleil I wanted Jesus to be physically present 24 hours per day through the Eucharist and sacraments in the middle of the poorest, who are the body of Christ, too. With the one strong certitude in my heart: they are the ones who will open to us the doors of Heaven.”