MIAMI (CNS) -- Haitian Father Gerard Jean-Juste, a passionate advocate for the poor and impoverished in Haiti and for Haitian refugees in the United States, died in a Miami hospital May 27 of complications from a stroke and a lung problem. He was 62.

The Port-au-Prince archdiocesan priest came to the United States in the 1970s and founded the Haitian Refugee Center in Miami. He was a longtime supporter of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a former priest who has been in exile since 2004.

Father Jean-Juste returned to Haiti in the 1990s as an advocate for the poor and for the country's struggle for democracy.

In October 2004, Father Jean-Juste was imprisoned on charges of "plotting against state security" as gang violence erupted in the slums on the anniversary of the 1991 coup that ousted Aristide during his first term. Father Jean-Juste was released in November 2004, although charges were not dropped.

In July 2005, Father Jean-Juste was arrested again and charged with the kidnapping and murder of a Haitian journalist, even though the priest had been in the United States at the time of the murder.

The priest was declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International. While he was imprisoned, he was diagnosed with leukemia. In January 2006, Haitian officials allowed him to return to the U.S. to receive medical treatment.

All charges against the priest were dropped in 2008.

While he was imprisoned in 2005, a group of Lavalas Family party officials selected Father Jean-Juste to be the party's presidential candidate. Haitian church authorities at the time suspended the imprisoned priest for defying the hierarchy's orders and presenting his credentials to be a presidential candidate in the elections.

Haitian electoral authorities refused to register Father Jean-Juste for the election, citing a decree that said candidates had to register in person, which the imprisoned priest could not do.

After his death, Miami archdiocesan officials could not confirm his priestly status. His funeral was being arranged by his family.

Marleine Bastien, head of the nonprofit group Haitian Women of Miami, called Father Jean-Juste a legend and mentor. Bastien, who came to Miami from Haiti in 1981 and immediately began working with the priest, told The Associated Press, "He's the kind of person who only comes about every 50 or 100 years."

Bastien said she spent many days demonstrating on the streets with Father Jean-Juste and can still picture him lying on the ground in the path of buses taking away Haitian refugees.

"He pressured both Democratic and Republican administrations to treat Haitians fairly, humanly and equally," she added.

In a 2006 interview with Catholic News Service, Msgr. Andre Pierre, then-secretary of the Haitian bishops' conference, described Father Jean-Juste as physically sick, but still strong and courageous.

He said his spirit was lifted every time he visited the priest, adding that Father Jean-Juste "doesn't look like someone who is afraid of sickness."

Msgr. Pierre praised Father Jean-Juste for his tireless work with the country's poor, saying the priest has "always been supportive of human rights -- taking care of the poor, educating them and promoting advocacy on behalf of the poor."

Copyright © 2009 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops