Christians in the Gambia constituted Muslim 96.4%, Christian 3.5%, other or none 0.1% (2019-20 est.). [1]
The government has not established a state religion, [2] but the predominant religion is Islam, practised by approximately 96% of the country's population. Article 25 of the Constitution protects the rights of citizens to practise any religion that they choose. [3]
The Christian community, situated mostly in the west and south of the country, is predominantly Roman Catholic. In 2007 there were also several Protestant groups including Anglicans, Methodists, Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists, and various small evangelical denominations. [2] In 1965, the Gambia Christian Council was formed as an ecumenical association of Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Methodist churches. [4]
Intermarriage between Muslims and Christians is common. [5]
In 1931 from the Apostolic Vicariate of Senegambia was established Mission “sui iuris” of Gambia. In 1951 Mission was promoted as the Apostolic Prefecture of Bathurst, in 1957 promoted as Diocese of Bathurst in Gambia (renamed in 1974 as Diocese of Banjul).
In 2020, Catholics made up 2.9% of the population. [6] The Diocese of Banjul is divided into 56 parishes.
Bishop James Allen Yaw Odico is the present Catholic Bishop of the diocese of Banjul.
Gabriel Mendy (born 9 April 1967) is the current Bishop of Banjul in the Gambia in 2023. [7] He is the first Gambian to be made a bishop. [8]
The Anglican Diocese of Gambia and the Rio Pongas 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. 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, and Cape Verde.
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. [9]
Solomon Tilewa Johnson, who died in 2014, was the first Gambian national to hold the post of Anglican Bishop of Gambia.
In 2023, the bishop is James Allen Yaw Odico, formerly the Dean of St Mary's Cathedral. [10]
The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The traditional origins of Anglican doctrine are summarised in the Thirty-nine Articles (1571). The archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as a focus of unity, recognised as primus inter pares, but does not exercise authority in Anglican provinces outside of the Church of England. Most, but not all, member churches of the communion are the historic national or regional Anglican churches.
An episcopal polity is a hierarchical form of church governance in which the chief local authorities are called bishops. It is the structure used by many of the major Christian Churches and denominations, such as the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Church of the East, Anglican, Lutheran and Methodist churches or denominations, and other churches founded independently from these lineages.
Banjul, officially the City of Banjul, is the capital and fourth largest city of The Gambia. It is the centre of the eponymous administrative division which is home to an estimated 400,000 residents, making it The Gambia's largest and most densely populated metropolitan area. Banjul is on St Mary's Island, where the Gambia River enters the Atlantic Ocean. The population of the city proper is 31,301, with the Greater Banjul Area, which includes the City of Banjul and the Kanifing Municipal Council, at a population of 413,397. The island is connected to the mainland to the west and the rest of Greater Banjul Area via bridges. There are also ferries linking Banjul to the mainland at the other side of the river.
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 the country with most dioceses, now numbering 11.
The Church of South India (CSI) is a united Protestant Church in India. It is the result of union of a number of Protestant denominations in South India that occurred after the independence of India.
The Catholic Church in the Gambia is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. The Diocese of Banjul covers the whole of the country.
Christianity in Africa first arrived in Egypt in approximately 50 AD. By the end of the 2nd century it had reached the region around Carthage. In the 4th century, the Aksumite empire in modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea became one of the first regions in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion. The Nubian kingdoms of Nobatia, Makuria and Alodia followed two centuries later. From the late fifth and early sixth century, the region included several Christian Berber kingdoms. Important Africans who influenced the early development of Christianity and shaped the doctrines of Christianity include Tertullian, Perpetua, Felicity, Clement of Alexandria, Origen of Alexandria, Cyprian, Athanasius and Augustine of Hippo.
More than 70% of the population of Botswana is Christian. Most are members of the Anglican, United Congregational Church of Southern Africa, the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, and African independent churches. Anglicans are part of the Church of the Province of Central Africa. The Roman Catholic Church includes about 5% of the nation's population.
Christianity is a minority religion in Libya. It has been present in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica since Roman times.
Christianity in Brunei is the second largest religion practiced by about 8.7% of the population as of 2022. Other reports suggest that this number may be as high as 12%.
Christianity is the dominant religion in Eswatini. The relative prevalence percentages vary by source. According to Pew Research, over 88% of the total 1.2 million population of Eswatini express Christianity to be their faith, over 0.2% express no affiliation. According to the US State Department religious freedom report of 2012, local religious leaders estimate that 90% of Eswatini's population is Christian, 2% are Muslim, while under 10% belong to other religious groups. According to the CIA World Factbook, the distribution is 40% Zionist, 20% Catholic, other Christians 30%, 2% Muslim and 8% other religions. In other sources such as Clay Potts, the religious demographics are 80% Christian, and 20% Islam and Traditional Swazi religion.
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 United States DRL, in 2007 up to 75% were Protestant, including as much as 50% Lutheran.
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 comprises The Gambia, Senegal, and the Cape Verde Islands. In 1985, French-speaking Guinea was split off from it to form the Anglican Diocese of Guinea.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Banjul is a diocese located in the city of Banjul in the Gambia.
Christianity is the largest religion practiced in Zimbabwe, accounted for more than 84% of the population. The arrival of Christianity dates back to the 16th century by Portuguese missionaries such as Fr. Gonsalo Da Silveira of the Roman Catholic Church. Christianity is embraced by the majority of the population. It is estimated 85 percent of Zimbabweans claim to be Christians, with approximately 62 percent regularly attending church services. Christian faith plays a very important role in the organization of Zimbabwean society.
Solomon Tilewa Ethelbert Willie Johnson was a Gambian Anglican bishop. He was the bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Gambia and the Rio Pongas and archbishop of the Church of the Province of West Africa. He was married and had a son and two daughters.
The majority of the Greenlandic population is Christian and associates with the Church of Denmark via the Church of Greenland, which is Protestant in classification and Lutheran in orientation. The Church of Denmark is the established church through the Constitution of Denmark; this applies to all of the Kingdom of Denmark, except for the Faroe Islands, as the Church of the Faroe Islands became independent in 2007. But traditional Inuit spiritual beliefs remain strong in many of Greenland's remote communities.
The Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral or simply Banjul Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic church located in Banjul the capital of the African country of Gambia.
Bishop Michael Joseph Moloney C.S.Sp. was an Irish born priest of the Holy Ghost Fathers, also known as Spiritans. He served as Bishop of Bathurst in Gambia for 42 of his 54 years as a priest and bishop. He was created Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) about 1951.