Christians in the Gambia constitute approximately 3 percent (~136,400) of the country's population (1,705,000
– 2009 est.)
The government has not established a state religion,
United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Affairs (DRL) is a bureau within the United States Department of State. The bureau is under the purview of the Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights.
DRL's resp ...
(September 14, 2007). ''This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work
A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
.'' but the predominant religion is
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
, practised by approximately 90% of the country's population. Article 25 of the
Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When ...
protects the rights of citizens to practise any religion that they choose.
The Christian community, situated mostly in the west and south of the country, is predominantly
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
; there are also several
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
groups including Anglicans, Methodists, Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists, and various small evangelical denominations.
[ In 1965, the Gambia Christian Council was formed as an ecumenical association of Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Methodist churches.][ In some areas, Islam and Christianity are syncretized with ]animism
Animism (from Latin: ' meaning 'breath, Soul, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct Spirituality, spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things—Animal, animals, Plant, plants, Ro ...
.[
]
Roman Catholicism
In 1931 from the Apostolic Vicariate of Senegambia
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dakar ( la, Dakaren(sis)) is the Metropolitan See for the Ecclesiastical province of Dakar in Senegal.
History
* February 2, 1863: Established as Apostolic Vicariate of Senegambia from the Apostolic Vicariate of ...
was established Mission “sui iuris”
A mission '' sui iuris'', or in Latin ''missio sui iuris'' (plural ''missions sui iuris''); also spelled mission(s) sui juris), also known as an independent mission, is a rare type of Roman Catholic missionary pseudo-diocesan jurisdiction, ranki ...
of Gambia. In 1951 Mission was promoted as the Apostolic Prefecture
An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it ...
of Bathurst, in 1957 promoted as Diocese of Bathurst in Gambia (renamed in 1974 as Diocese of Banjul).
Now there are about 42,400 (~2.4%) Catholics in the Gambia. The Diocese of Banjul is divided into 56 parishes.
Bishop James Allen Yaw Odico is the present Catholic Bishop of the diocese of Banjul.
Anglicanism
The Anglican Diocese of Gambia and the Rio Pongas
The Diocese of Gambia and Guinea was founded in 1935 and had been renamed the Diocese of Gambia and The Rio Pongas by 1940. Today it is simply styled the Diocese of Gambia, is one of 17 dioceses in the Church of the Province of West Africa, and co ...
was founded in 1935. John Daly was the first bishop of the new diocese. In 1951 five West African Anglican dioceses, including the Diocese of Gambia, were formed into the Church of the Province of West Africa
The Church of the Province of West Africa is a province of the Anglican Communion, covering 17 dioceses in eight countries of West Africa, specifically in Cameroon, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Senegal and Sierra Leone. Ghana is ...
. In 1985 from the Diocese of Gambia was separated the Diocese of Guinea and now the jurisdiction of Anglican Diocese of Gambia comprises the Republics of the Gambia, Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...
, and Cape Verde
, national_anthem = ()
, official_languages = Portuguese
, national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole
, capital = Praia
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, demonym ...
.
In 2000 the Church of the Province of West Africa adopted legislation permitting women priests, but only Liberia and the Gambia have passed enabling legislation and ordained women clergy.
See also
*Religion in the Gambia
The Gambia is a Muslim majority country, with Muslims constituting 96.4% of the population, some 3.5% are Christian, and 0.1% practice other religions (including African Traditional Religions).
Legal regulations
Articles 17, 25, 32, 33, and 21 ...
*Islam in the Gambia
Islam is the major religion in the Gambia, representing 95% of the 2 million population, with the first Muslim communities in the country arriving in 11th century. Islam has therefore had an influence on the Gambia throughout history, and conti ...
References
External links
The Catholic Diocese of BanjulAnglican Diocese of Gambia
{{Africa in topic, Christianity in