Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

is the predominant religion in Uganda. According to the 2014 census, over 84 percent of the population was Christian while about 14 percent of the population adhered to Islam, making it the largest minority religion. In 2009, the northern and west Nile regions were dominated by Roman Catholics, and

Iganga District Iganga District is a district in the Eastern Region of Uganda. The town of Iganga is the site of the district headquarters. Location Iganga District is bordered by Kaliro District to the north, Namutumba District to the northeast, Bugweri Di ...

in the east of Uganda had the highest percentage of Muslims.

Good Friday Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday (also Hol ...

Easter Monday Easter Monday refers to the day after Easter Sunday in either the Eastern or Western Christian traditions. It is a public holiday in some countries. It is the second day of Eastertide. In Western Christianity, it marks the second day of the Octa ...

Eid al-Fitr , nickname = Festival of Breaking the Fast, Lesser Eid, Sweet Eid, Sugar Feast , observedby = Muslims , type = Islamic , longtype = Islamic , significance = Commemoration to mark the end of fasting in Ramadan , dat ...

Eid al-Adha Eid al-Adha () is the second and the larger of the two main holidays celebrated in Islam (the other being Eid al-Fitr). It honours the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son Ismail (Ishmael) as an act of obedience to Allah's co ...

, and

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

are recognized national holidays.

Government policy

Freedom of religion is guaranteed by the Uganda Constitution, but religions are expected to be registered with the government. Some religions considered to be cults are restricted. The Catholic Church, the Church of Uganda, the Eastern Orthodox Church in Uganda, and the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council are registered under the Trustees Incorporation Act. Most other religious groups are registered yearly as non-governmental organizations.

Christianity

File:Rubaga Cthedral.jpg,

Rubaga Cathedral Saint Mary's Cathedral Rubaga, commonly referred to as Rubaga Cathedral, is the parent cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kampala, the oldest Roman Catholic diocese in Uganda. It is the home church of Archbishop of Kampala. Location T ...

, the seat for the Roman Catholic Church According to the national census of 2014, Christians of all denominations comprised 85 percent of Uganda's population. The Roman Catholic Church had the largest number of adherents (39.3 percent of the total population). The largest Protestant church was the Anglican

Church of Uganda The Church of Uganda is a member province of the Anglican Communion. Currently there are 37 dioceses which make up the Church of Uganda, each headed by a bishop. Each diocese is divided into archdeaconries, each headed by a senior priest known a ...

, a part of the worldwide Anglican communion, at 32 percent. The category of Pentecostal/Evangelical/Born Again made up 11.1% of the population, while Seventh-day Adventists made up 1.7%, Baptists 0.3% and Eastern Orthodox 0.1%., although some sources estimate their numbers to more than 3%

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...

operate in Uganda under the

International Bible Students Association A number of corporations are in use by Jehovah's Witnesses. They publish literature and perform other operational and administrative functions, representing the interests of the religious organization. "The Society" has been used as a collective ...

name and are working in a total of ten languages, including Swahili and

Luganda The Ganda language or Luganda (, , ) is a Bantu language spoken in the African Great Lakes region. It is one of the major languages in Uganda and is spoken by more than 10 million Baganda and other people principally in central Uganda including ...

. Followers of

William M. Branham William Marrion Branham (April 6, 1909 – December 24, 1965) was an American Christian minister and faith healer who initiated the post-World War II healing revival, and claimed to be a prophet with the anointing of Elijah, who had come ...

and Branhamism claim numbers in the tens of thousands, thanks in large part to translation and distribution efforts by Voice of God Recordings. The

Presbyterian Church in Uganda Presbyterian Church in Uganda is a conservative Reformed Calvinistic denomination in Uganda with almost 100 churches in 5 presbyteries in the late 2000s. Origin The Presbyterian Church in Uganda was founded in the 1970s by the Ugandan pastor ...

has 100-200 congregations. The

Reformed Presbyterian Church in Uganda The Reformed Presbyterian Church of Uganda is an indigenous confessional Reformed and Presbyterian denomination in Uganda. It was separated from the Presbyterian Church in Uganda. In 1989 controversy arose over a case of church discipline. Attemp ...

was a result in a split in the Presbyterian church.

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

has its origins in American mission of the

Southern Baptist Convention The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the United States. The wor ...

in 1963. The Baptist Union of Uganda was founded in 1974. According to a denomination census released in 2020, it claimed 1,800 churches and 550,000 members.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

claims more than 14,000 members in 27 congregations in Uganda. They also have two family history centers. The

Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

has two

yearly meeting Yearly Meeting is a term used by members of the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, to refer to an organization composed of constituent meetings or churches within a geographical area. The constituent meetings are called Monthly Meetings in ...

s, Uganda Yearly Meeting, part of

Friends United Meeting Friends United Meeting (FUM) is an association of twenty-six yearly meetings of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in North America, Africa, and the Caribbean. Its home pages states that it is "a collection of Christ-centered Quakers, embra ...

and Evangelical Friends Church. There were about 3,000 members between the two in 2001. A 2015 study estimated some 35,000 believers in Christ from a Muslim background residing in the country at the time.

Islam

According to the 2014 National Census, 13.7 percent of Ugandans adhered to Islam. Most Muslims are

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

, with a small minority of Ahmadis. The

in the east of Uganda has the highest percentage of Muslims.

Judaism

There are a small community of Ugandan Jews called the

Abayudaya The Abayudaya (''Abayudaya'' is Luganda for "People of Judah") are a community in eastern Uganda, near the town of Mbale, who practice Judaism. They are devout in their practice, keeping kashrut and observing Shabbat. There are several differ ...

, numbering some 2,000-3,000. The group was formed by

Semei Kakungulu Semei may be *Σεμεϊ, the LXX spelling of Shimei * Semei Kakungulu, Ugandan religious leader * Treaty of Semei *Semey Semey ( kk, Семей, Semei, سەمەي; cyrl, Семей ), until 2007 known as Semipalatinsk (russian: Семип ...

in the early 20th century.

Indigenous beliefs

About 1 percent of Uganda's population follow traditional religions only; however, more people practice traditional religious practices along with other religions such as Christianity or Islam. One survey in 2010 showed that about 27 percent of Ugandans believe that sacrifices to ancestors or spirits can protect them from harm.

Interfaith

Uganda has received media attention for interfaith efforts in

Mbale Mbale is a city in the Eastern Region of Uganda. It is the main municipal, administrative, and commercial center of Mbale District and the surrounding sub-region. Location Mbale is approximately , by road, northeast of Kampala, Uganda's capita ...

. Founded by JJ Keki, the Mirembe Kawomera (Delicious Peace) Fair Trade Coffee Cooperative brings together Muslim, Jewish, and Christian coffee farmers. Members of the cooperative use music to spread their message of peace. The

Smithsonian Folkways Smithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a part of the Smithsonian's Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located at Capital Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C. The label was fou ...

album "Delicious Peace: Coffee, Music & Interfaith Harmony in Uganda" features songs from members of the cooperative about their interfaith message.

Hinduism

According to

ARDA Arda or ARDA may refer to: Places *Arda (Maritsa), a river in Bulgaria and Greece * Arda (Italy), a river in Italy *Arda (Douro), a river in Portugal * Arda, Bulgaria, a village in southern Bulgaria * Arda, County Fermanagh, a townland in County ...

, there were about 355,497 (0.93%) Hindus in Uganda in 2015

Baháʼí Faith

The

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...

in Uganda started to grow in 1951 and in four years time there were 500 Baháʼís in 80 localities, including 13 Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assemblies, representing 30 tribes, and had dispatched 9 Baháʼí pioneers to other African locations. Following the reign of Idi Amin when the Baháʼí Faith was banned and the murder of Baháʼí

Hand of the Cause Hand of the Cause was a title given to prominent early members of the Baháʼí Faith, appointed for life by the religion's founders. Of the fifty individuals given the title, the last living was ʻAlí-Muhammad Varqá who died in 2007. Hands of ...

Enoch Olinga and his family, the community continues to grow though estimates of the population range widely from 19,000 to 105,000 and the community's involvements have included diverse efforts to promote the welfare of the Ugandan people. One of only ten Baháʼí Houses of Worship in the world, known as the Mother Temple of Africa, is located on the outskirts of

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

Buddhism

The Uganda Buddhist Centre, founded in 2005 by Venerable Buddharakkhita, is an initiative that intends to provide the first stable source of Buddhism in Uganda.

No religion

Only 0.9 percent of Ugandans claim no religion. The Uganda Humanist Association is a member of the

International Humanist and Ethical Union Humanists International (known as the International Humanist and Ethical Union, or IHEU, from 1952–2019) is an international non-governmental organisation championing secularism and human rights, motivated by secular humanist values. Found ...

and has been registered since 1996.http://www.iheu.org/node/1474, http://uganda.humanists.net/

References

{{Africa topic, Religion in