Christianity in Somalia is a minority religion within the country, which has a population over 99% Sunni Muslim, and Islam as the state religion. According to a 2020 report by the US Department of State, there are approximately 1,000 Christians in the nation.[1]
Most modern-day Christian adherents come from the Bantu ethnic minority group,[2] or are descended from Italian colonists and belong to the Swedish Evangelical Mission, Roman Catholic Church, and Church of the Nazarene. There is one Catholic diocese for the entire country, the Diocese of Mogadishu.
Orthodox Christianity came to coastal areas of the Somalia in early 2nd and 3rd century.[3] Modern day, there are at least some known local Christians in the nation and the self-proclaimed nation of Somaliland in the north.[4][5]
Due to the proximity of Somalis to the Axumite and Southern Arabian Cultures, early Christianity and Judaism was professed by some in the region of Somalia as can be seen by inscriptions, gravesites with stone crosses, and codices in the Geʽez script.[6][7]
However, the advent of Islam in the region saw an end to Christianity, not making a return until Italian colonization. In 1903, the first Christian missionaries under the Trinitarian Fathers arrived in Somalia. According to Listowel, they started by providing education and assistance to the poor and sick in the country, with Fr. Jelib founding a leper colony at the mouth of the Jubba River, housing between 350 and 400 afflicted.[citation needed] Still however at the time of publishing of the Catholic Encyclopedia in 1913, there were virtually no Christians observed in the Somali territories, outside of the around 100–200 followers which existed in the schools and orphanages across the few Catholic missions run by the English, French, and Italians.[8] No Catholic missions are known to have existed in Italian Somaliland during the same period.[9]
In 1928, a Catholic cathedral was built in Mogadishu by order of Cesare Maria De Vecchi, a Catholic governor of "Somalia italiana" who promoted the "Missionari della Consolata" Christianization of Somali people.[10] The cathedral, the biggest in Africa in the 1920s and 1930s, was later damaged during the civil war that began in the 1980s.
The Bishop of Mogadishu, Venanzio Francesco Filippini, OFM, declared in 1940 that there were about 40,000 Somali Catholics due to the work of missionaries in the rural regions of Juba and Shebelle, but World War II damaged in an irreversible way most of the Catholic missions in Italian Somalia.[11] Most were Somali Bantu.[12]
The Bible was first translated into Somali only in 1979.[13] The Diocese of Mogadishu estimates that there were about 100 official Roman Catholic practitioners in Somalia in 2004. This was down from a high of 8,500 adherents at the start of the trusteeship period in 1950, under the Prefecture Apostolic of Benadir of the Vicariate Apostolic of Mogadiscio.[14]
Somalia is included in the Episcopal Area of the Horn of Africa of the Anglican Diocese of Egypt, though there are no current local congregations.[15] The Adventist Mission indicates that there are no Adventist members in Somalia, and that Christianity in general has seen little growth there.[16]
Persecution
Due to the ongoing civil war in the southern part of the country, professing Christians in Somalia have faced persecution and sometimes death. Somalia is number three on Open Doors’ 2022 World Watch List, an annual ranking of the 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution.[17] Apart from Mogadishu Cathedral (which is no longer used for Christian services, although in 2013 plans to repair it were announced by the Diocese of Mogadiscio), there are no church buildings in the country. Nor is there any legal protection for Christians, some of whom meet in underground churches.[citation needed]
Paramilitary groups in Somalia have also engaged in widespread looting of Christian graves,[18] in addition to the desecration of SufiMuslim graves and mosques.[19] Sometimes the term "Christian" was a label that the jihadists would affix on people they suspected of working for Ethiopian intelligence.[20]
In August 2009, International Christian Concern reported that four Christians working to help orphans in Somalia were beheaded by Islamist extremists when they refused to convert to Islam.[21]
In December 2013, the Ministry of Justice and Religious Affairs released a directive prohibiting the celebration of Christian festivities in the country.[22]
In 2023, the country was scored zero out of 4 for religious freedom.[23] In the same year, the country was ranked as the second worst place in the world to be a Christian, just behind North Korea.[24]
Somali, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. The country was an important centre for commerce with the rest of the ancient world, and according to most scholars, it is among the most probable locations of the fabled ancient Land of Punt. During the Middle Ages, several powerful Somali states and port towns dominated the regional trade, the Mogadishu Sultanate and Ajuran Sultanate both centered around the port town Mogadishu, but also the port towns of Barawe and Merca.
Italian Somaliland was a protectorate and later colony of the Kingdom of Italy in present-day Somalia, which was ruled in the 19th century by the Sultanate of Hobyo and Majeerteen in the north, and in the south by the political entities; Hiraab Imamate and the Geledi Sultanate.
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The Catholic Church in Somalia is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.
Christianity in Sudan has a long and rich history, dating back to the early centuries of the Christian era. Ancient Nubia was reached by Coptic Christianity by the 1st century. The Coptic Church was later influenced by Greek Christianity, particularly during the Byzantine era. From the 7th century, the Christian Nubian kingdoms were threatened by the Islamic expansion, but the southernmost of these kingdoms, Alodia, survived until 1504.
Pietro Salvatore Colombo, OFM was the Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Mogadiscio (Somalia) from 1976 until his assassination.
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Christianity in Russia is the most widely professed religion in the country. The largest tradition is the Russian Orthodox Church. According to official sources, there are 170 eparchies of the Russian Orthodox Church, 145 of which are grouped in metropolitanates. There are from 500,000 to one million Old Believers, who represent an older form of Russian Orthodox Christianity, and who separated from the Orthodox Church in the 17th century as a protest against Patriarch Nikon's church reforms.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Djibouti is the Latin sole diocese in the country of Djibouti in the Horn of Africa.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Mogadishu is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church located in the city of Mogadishu, Somalia. The area of the diocese coincides with that of the country. It is the only diocese in Somalia. The see has been vacant since the assassination of the last bishop, Salvatore Colombo, in 1989. The diocese is a member of the Conference of the Latin Bishops of the Arab Regions.
Christianity is the most widely professed religion in Zimbabwe, with Protestantism being its largest denomination.
Religion in Namibia is dominated by various branches of Christianity, with more than 90 percent of Namibian citizens identifying themselves as Christian. According to the government's survey, in 2013 up to two-thirds of the country was Protestant, including as much as 44% Lutheran.
Italian Somalis are Somali-born citizens who are fully or partially of Italian descent, whose ancestors were Italians who emigrated to Somalia during the Italian diaspora, or Italian-born people in Somalia. Most of the Italians moved to Somalia during the Italian colonial period.
Christians in the Gambia constituted Muslim 96.4%, Christian 3.5%, other or none 0.1%.
Somaliland is an unrecognized de facto sovereign state in East Africa. The Holy See, in line with all other UN member states, does not recognize the independence of Somaliland, favouring a peaceful solution of unity for all of Somalia. Very few native Christians exist and, owing to its unrecognized status, few expatriate Christian are in the country either.
Christianity in Somaliland is a minority religion, estimated to have 7,642 followers according to the 2023 report by the Somali Bible Society. This census did not count for the Christians in Somaliland who continue to practice their religion secretly or could not be contacted due to language barriers or fear of persecution. The country's Christians are mostly native born. The foreign Christian demographics include United Nations workers or other humanitarian agencies with bases in Hargeisa. As of 2021, however, there are at least some known local Christians who feel persecuted. The church and its institutions such as Caritas International also work in relief and charitable work, and also run programs such as rehabilitation of schools and hospitals, food aid, and assistance to poor children.
Mogadishu Cathedral is a ruined Catholic cathedral located in Mogadishu, Somalia. Between 1928 and 1991, it served as the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Mogadiscio. Built in 1928 by Italian colonial authorities, much of the building was destroyed in 2008 by al-Shabaab. In 2013, the diocese announced plans to refurbish the building.
The predominant religion in Somalia is Islam, with tiny minorities of Christians, traditional African religions and others.
The Governor's Palace was the seat of the governor of Italian Somaliland, and then the administrator of the Trust Territory of Somaliland. It was built during the colonial period in the capital city of Mogadishu, situated in present-day southern Somalia. Used as municipality building of Mogadishu, it is one of the most popular government offices in Somalia. It was the first place where the Somali flag waved.
Freedom of religion in Somalia refers to the extent to which people in Somalia are freely able to practice their religious beliefs, taking into account government policies, non-state actors, and societal attitudes toward religious groups. Due to the Somali Civil War, the enforcement of laws pertaining to religion by the various autonomous governments in the region is inconsistent.
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