The Catholic Church in

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...

is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. Approximately 90 percent of the population are Christians, of whom half are Catholics.International Religious Freedom Report 2007: Lesotho
United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (September 14, 2007). ''This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.'' Muslims, members of other non-Christian religions, and atheists constitute the remaining 10 percent. Christians are scattered throughout the country, while Muslims live mainly in the northeastern part of the country. Most practitioners of Islam are of Asian origin, while the majority of Christians are the indigenous Basotho. Many Christians still practice their traditional cultural beliefs and rituals along with Christianity. The Catholic Church has fused some aspects of local culture into its services. For example, the singing of hymns during services has developed into a local and traditional way of singing (a repetitive call and response style) in Sesotho, the indigenous language, as well as English. In addition priests are seen dressed in local dress during services. There are three main missionary groups, all of which are Christian, active in the country: Catholics, Protestants, and

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

s. The prominent role of the Catholic Church in the country derives from the successful establishment of Catholic schools in the last century and their influence over education policy. The Catholic Church used to own about 75 percent of all primary and secondary schools in the country, and was instrumental in establishing the National University of Lesotho; as of 2007, however, it owns less than 40 percent of the primary and secondary schools. The Catholic Church helped found the Basotho National Party (BNP) in 1959 and sponsored it in the independence elections in 1966. Most members of the BNP are practicing Catholics. The BNP ruled the country from independence in 1966 until 1985 when it was overthrown in a military coup. The then-opposition Basutoland Congress Party (BCP) historically has been aligned with the Protestant

Lesotho Evangelical Church The Lesotho Evangelical Church in Southern Africa (LECSA, st, Kereke ea Evangeli Lesotho e Boroa ho Afrika) is one of the oldest Protestant churches in Africa, established in 1833 by the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society. They received the suppo ...

.U.S. State Department
/ref> There are 4 dioceses including one

archdiocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

: * Maseru ** Leribe **

Mohale’s Hoek Mohale's Hoek is the capital city of Mohale's Hoek District in Lesotho. It had a population of approximately 40,040 in 2016.Lesotho Bureau of StatisticsCensus Pre Results2006. History Mohale's Hoek had first been inhabited by the Bushmen, San who ...

Qacha’s Nek Qacha's Nek is, since 1888, the Camptown (Lesotho), camptown (capital) of Qacha's Nek District in Lesotho, only two kilometers from the Lesotho–South Africa border, South African border at above sea level. It has a population of approximat ...

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