Religion in Mozambique
Religious demography
Early 2000s
In the early 2000s, religious communities were dispersed throughout the country. Northern provinces were predominantly Muslim, especially along the coastal strip, and some areas of the inland northern areas had a stronger concentration of Catholic or Protestant communities;
In 2010, there were 732
In 2010,
In 2010, the Catholic Church and the country's leading
2020s
According to the most recent 2020 estimate, 55.8% of the population of
In 2022,
Many small, independent Catholic and Protestant churches that have split from mainstream denominations fuse African traditional beliefs and practices within a Christian framework.[5]
Freedom of religion
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respects this right in practice.[5]
The country has been scored as 3 out 4 for freedom of religious expression.[8]
Mozambique is listed as the 32nd most dangerous country to be a Christian.[9] Islamist terrorists attacked a Catholic mission in Nampula, killing an elderly missionary and burning down several structures in September 2022,[5] and separated Catholic inhabitants of a village killing at least eleven in September 2023.[10]
Survey results
Affiliation | 1997 census[11] | 2007 census[12][13] | 2009 DHS Survey[14] | 2010 Pew Forum Estimates[15][16] | 2015 DHS Survey[17] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Christian | 49.1% | 56.1% | 61.3% | 56.1% | 69.4% |
Catholic
|
23.8% | 28.4% | 32.3% | 28.4% | 30.5% |
Zionist Christian
|
17.5% | 15.5% | 7.4% | 10.3% | |
Evangelical
|
7.8%[note 1] | 10.9% | 9.5% [note 2] | ||
Protestant
|
21.6% | 27.1%[note 3] | 18.4% | ||
Anglican
|
1.3% | 0.8% | |||
Muslim | 17.8% | 17.9% | 19.5% | 22.8% | 19.3% |
None | 23.1% | 18.7% | 12.8% | 9.9% | |
Other/Unknown | 10.0% | 7.3% | 6.4% | 1.4% | |
Notes |
Anti-Religious Campaign 1979-1982
The ruling
In response to these and other social and religious changes, Catholic bishops condemned the death penalty and re-education camps as godless. In 1978 the church decided to transform into a church of communities, something the state believed to be a move towards resistance to Socialism, rather than the collaboration stated by some Bishops. The result was an outright attack on all religion on the part of the state.[20]
From early 1979, the regime attempted to discredit the church on the basis of the history of the colonial church, and it began a campaign to close churches, prevent religious activities and restrict the movements of religious staff. Catholic and other religious institutions resisted, more or less openly. By 1980, resistance was often open and international criticism was rife, something which convinced FRELIMO to change its stance.[18]
Several Protestant groups in Mozambique had strong allegiance to the FRELIMO government, potentially because many in the FRELIMO leadership (including the late national hero Eduardo Mondlane) had been trained in Protestant schools and the World Council of Churches had supported the Mozambique institute in Dar es Salaam during the war of liberation.[21] But many non-Catholic churches suffered nonetheless, not least of all Jehovah's Witnesses, who were all deported to Zambezia and the Nazarene Church which saw many of its missionaries imprisoned.
Islam suffered probably the most during the anti-religious campaign, because of the plain misunderstanding or prejudice of the Frelimo leadership. Frelimo ministers thought, for example, that raising pigs was a good idea to combat rural underdevelopment and genuinely failed to understand that Muslims resistance in the north of the country came from religious objection. Some long-lasting trauma was thus created.[22]
The
The anti-religious campaign of FRELIMO formally ended in 1982 when the party in power held a meeting with all the main religious institutions. On that occasion, it claimed mistakes had been made and national unity needed to prevail. State control of religious institutions continued after 1982, but the state attack on faith had come to an end.[23]
See also
- Catholic Church in Mozambique
- Bahá'í Faith in Mozambique
- Hinduism in Mozambique
- History of the Jews in Mozambique
- Irreligion in Mozambique
- Islam in Mozambique
- Islamist insurgency in Cabo Delgado
- Protestantism in Mozambique
- Christian Council of Mozambique
References
- ^ "National Profiles". www.thearda.com.
- ^ "National Profiles". www.thearda.com.
- ^ a b Eric Morier-Genoud, “Renouveau religieux et politique au Mozambique: entre permanence, rupture et historicité”, Politique africaine, n°134, June 2014, pp.155-177
- ^ Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ a b c d e US State Dept 2022 reportThis article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain
- ^ "National Profiles". www.thearda.com.
- ^ JosephFebruary 1, Anne; Images, 2018Getty (February 2018). "In Mozambique, A Jewish Community Thrives". The Forward. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Freedom House website, Retrieved 2023-07-05
- ^ Open Doors website, Retrieved 2023-07-05
- ^ Aid to the Church in Need, Retrieved 2023-09-26
- ^ 1997 Census of Mozambique
- ^ 2007 Census of Mozambique
- ^ The World Factbook - Mozambique
- ^ "Inquérito Nacional de Prevalência, Riscos Comportamentais e Informação sobre o HIV e SIDA em Moçambique (INSIDA), 2009" (PDF) (in Portuguese). Ministério da Saúde & Instituto Nacional de Estatística. p. 32. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
- ^ "Table: Christian Population as Percentages of Total Population by Country". Pew Research Center. 19 December 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
- ^ "Table: Muslim Population by Country". Pew Research Center. 27 January 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
- ^ "Moçambique: Inquérito de Indicadores de Imunização, Malária e HIV/SIDA em Moçambique (IMASIDA), 2015" (PDF) (in Portuguese). Ministério da Saúde & Instituto Nacional de Estatística. p. 40. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
- ^ a b Eric morier-Genoud, “Of God and Caesar: The Relation between Christian Churches and the State in post-Colonial Mozambique, 1974-1981”, Le Fait Missionnaire (Lausanne), n°3, September 1996
- ^ "As feridas abertas pelo processo de reeducação em Moçambique" [The wounds opened by the re-education process in Mozambique]. Deutsche Welle (in Portuguese). Retrieved March 13, 2015.
- ^ Serapiao, Luis Benjamim. "The Catholic Church and conflict resolution in Mozambique's post-colonial conflict, 1977-1992." Journal of Church and State 46.2 (2004)
- ^ Serapiao, Luis Benjamim. "The Catholic Church and conflict resolution in Mozambique's post-colonial conflict, 1977-1992." Journal of Church and State 46.2 (2004)
- ^ Eric Morier-Genoud, “L’Islam au Mozambique après l’indépendance. Histoire d’une montée en puissance”, L’Afrique Politique 2002, Paris: Karthala, 2002, pp. 123-146; Bonate, Liazzat J. K., “Muslim Religious Leadership in Post-Colonial Mozambique.” South African Historical Journal, No 60 (4), 2008, 637-654.
- ^ FRELIMO (1983) "Consolidemos aquilo que nos une": reunião da Direcção do Partido e do Estado com os representantes das confissões religiosas 14 a 17 de Dezembro de 1982, Imprensa Nacional de Moçambique, Maputo