The presence, role and importance of Vodou in Haitian history, society and culture are inarguable, and recognizably a part of the national ethos. The impact of the religion qua spiritual and intellectual disciplines on popular national institutions, human and gender relations, the family, the plastic arts, philosophy and ethics, oral and written literature, language, sacred and popular music, science and technology, and the healing arts, is indisputable. It is the belief of the Congress that Vodou plays and shall continue to play a major role in the grand scheme of Haitian development and in the socio-economic, political, and cultural arenas. Development, when real and successful, always comes from the modernization of ancestral traditions, anchored in the rich cultural expressions of a nation.

The Founders of the Congress of Santa Barbara invite all scholars and interested parties who subscribe to its goals and objectives, to join it in the defense and illustration of this potomitan of the Haitian cultural heritage that is such an integral part of the country's future.