Religion in Papua New Guinea

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Citizen population in Papua New Guinea by religion, based on the 2011 census [1]

Contents

   Catholicism (26%)
   Lutheranism (18.4%)
   Pentecostal (10.4%)
   Evangelical Alliance Papua New Guinea (5.9%)
   Baptist (2.8%)
   Salvation Army (0.4%)
  Kwato Church (0.2%)
  Other Christian (5.1%)
  Non Christian (1.4%)
  Not stated (3.1%)

Religion in Papua New Guinea (2020) [2]

   Catholicism (25.7%)
   Protestant (47.8%)
  Other Christian (21.5%)
  Traditional (3.4%)
  Other religion (1%)
   No religion (0.7%)
St Andrews Lutheran Church in Malahang, Morobe Province. Christianity is the main religion in Papua New Guinea Ampo-St-Andrews-Lutheran-church.jpg
St Andrews Lutheran Church in Malahang, Morobe Province. Christianity is the main religion in Papua New Guinea

Religion in Papua New Guinea is dominated by various branches of Christianity, with traditional animism and ancestor worship often occurring less openly as another layer underneath or more openly side by side with Christianity. The Catholic Church has a plurality of the population. The courts, government, and general society uphold a constitutional right to freedom of speech, thought, and beliefs. A secular state, there is no state religion in the country, although the government openly partners with several Christian groups to provide services, and churches participate in local government bodies.

A large majority of Papua New Guineans identify themselves as members of a Christian church (96% in the decennial 2000 census); however, many combine their Christian faith with traditional indigenous practices, known as religious syncretism. [3]

Other religions represented in the country include the Baháʼí Faith, Hinduism and Islam. [3]

Christianity

Christmas pageant in Port Moresby Anglican church mid-1990s. Christmas pageant in a Port Moresby Anglican church mid-90s.jpg
Christmas pageant in Port Moresby Anglican church mid-1990s.

The 2000 census percentages were as follows: [4] [5]

Christianity by denomination
Roman Catholic Church 27.0%
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea 19.5%
United Church in Papua New Guinea 11.5%
Seventh-day Adventist Church 10.0%
Pentecostal 8.6%
Evangelical Alliance (PNG)5.2%
Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea 3.2%
Baptist 0.5%
Salvation Army 0.2%
Other Christian10%
Jehovah’s Witnesses 0.4%
Church of Christ 0.4%

Parachurch organizations

The Summer Institute of Linguistics is a missionary institution drawing its support from conservative evangelical Protestant churches in the United States and to a lesser extent Australia; it translates the Bible into local languages and conducts extensive linguistic research.

Young Women's Christian Association.

Several Christian professional educational institutions have been opened in the country, such as Christian Leaders' Training College, Divine Word University, Pacific Adventist University and Sonoma Adventist College.

Traditional religions

Ancestor figure with skull, Sepik, Iatmul people. Ancestor figure with skull, Papua New Guinea, Middle Sepik, Iatmul people, wood, skull, shells and human hair, HAA.jpg
Ancestor figure with skull, Sepik, Iatmul people.

Traditional ethnic religions are often animist and many have elements of ancestor worship, as well as tamam witches. [6]

Religious syncretism is high, with many citizens combining their Christian faith with some traditional indigenous religious practices. [3]

Asabano

The Asabano people of Papua New Guinea had traditional methods of treating human remains that varied based on the type of relationship the survivors planned to have with the deceased. [7] These methods included corpse exposure with curation or disposal of bones, disposal of corpses in rivers, and even cannibalism. [7] However, after their conversion to Christianity in the 1970s, the Asabano began burning or burying bone relics and commenced coffin burial in cemeteries. [7]

New religious movements

Cargo cults

Some cargo cults - the beliefs in a lost "Golden Age", which would be re-established when the dead ancestors returned - sprang up in Papua New Guinea during the 20th century, including the Taro Cult and the events known as the Vailala Madness in the Gulf of Papua, which, by the late 1920s, was no longer active. [8] [9]

Makasol

The Makasol (or "Wind Nation"), also known as Paliau movement, is neo-traditional Millenarianist counter-cultural religious and social movement in Papua New Guinea. Its base is in the Manus Province, a motherland of its founder, the prophet Paliau Maloat (d. 1991). He had served in the colonial police force, but became an opposition political activist, organized a movement, and had been arrested twice by the colonial authority. Later he also opposed the independent Papua governing elite. [10] [11]

Duk-Duk dancers in the Gazelle Peninsula, New Britain, 1913. New Britain- Duk-Duk dancers, Gazelle Peninsula.jpg
Duk-Duk dancers in the Gazelle Peninsula, New Britain, 1913.

The faith of the movement focuses on a new Holy Trinity - Wing, Wang and Wong. The new counter-cultural project is based on native values: local production for use; indigenous medical practices; new versions of traditional social institutions ("men's houses" and replacing the structure of local level governments). [11]

Similar movements

There are similar indigenist movements to the Makasol. An example is the movement led by the remarkable "prophet" Yali in the Rai Coast District of northern Papua. [11]

Baháʼí Faith

The Baháʼí Faith in Papua New Guinea began after 1916 with a mention by `Abdu'l-Bahá, then head of the religion, that Baháʼís should take the religion there. [12] The first Baháʼís moved (referred to as "Baháʼí pioneering") to Papua New Guinea in 1954. [13] With local converts the first Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assembly was elected in 1958. [14] The first National Spiritual Assembly was then elected in 1969. [15] According to the census of 2000, the number of Baháʼís was less than 21,000. [16] The Association of Religion Data Archives (relying on World Christian Encyclopedia ) estimated that Baháʼís made up 0.89% of the nation in 2020 [2]

Among its more well known members are the late Margaret Elias and the late Sirus Naraqi.

Margaret Elias was the daughter of the first Papua New Guinean woman on the national assembly, [17] and the country's first woman lawyer (in the 1970s). [18] She attended the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women and was given an award in 1995 and 2002 for her many years in the public service, particularly in the national government. She went on to support various initiatives for education. [19]

Sirus Naraqi lived and worked in Papua New Guinea from 1977 to 1979 and from 1983 to 1998, doing clinical medical work as well as teaching at the University of Papua New Guinea, where he was given an award in 1999 and had served as a member of the Continental Board of Counsellors in Australasia since 1985. [20]

Islam

Islam in Papua New Guinea counts for more than 5,000 followers, [21] [22] (most of whom are Sunni) mainly as a result of a recent spike in conversions. Despite being a dominant religion in neighbouring Indonesia, adherents of Islam make up a small segment of the population.

Hinduism

According to ARDA, followers of Hinduism made up 0.01% of the population in 2020 (Shaivites and Saktists). [2] This compared with 0.02% in 2015, [23] and 0.01% in 2010. [24]

Religious freedom

The constitution of Papua New Guinea provides for freedom of religion and the right to practice religion freely. Religious groups are required to register the government in order to hold property and obtain tax-exempt status. Foreign missionary groups are permitted to proselytize. Christian religious instruction in public schools is compulsory, although it is possible to opt out. [3]

It was noted in 2022 that more people are being accused of sorcery (nearly 400 per year in the highland provinces). Almost half of allegations led to physical violence or property damage. [3]

In the past, the Papuan government were opposed towards formally recognizing Islam and its institutions. However, the government has reportedly threatened to ban Islam to the present day. There are reports of native Muslims experiencing discrimination and even violence from the Christian majority. [25]

In 2023, the country was scored 4 out of 4 for religious freedom. [26]

Notable people

Related Research Articles

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The indigenous population of Papua New Guinea is one of the most heterogeneous in the world. Papua New Guinea has several thousand separate communities, most with only a few hundred people. Divided by language, customs, and tradition, some of these communities have engaged in endemic warfare with their neighbors for centuries. It is the second most populous nation in Oceania, with a total population estimated variously as being between 9.5 and 10.1 million inhabitants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Moresby</span> Capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea

Port Moresby, also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific outside of Australia and New Zealand. It is located on the shores of the Gulf of Papua, on the south-western coast of the Papuan Peninsula of the island of New Guinea. The city emerged as a trade centre in the second half of the 19th century. During World War II, it was a prime objective for conquest by the Imperial Japanese forces during 1942–43 as a staging point and air base to cut off Australia from Southeast Asia and the Americas.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cargo cult</span> New religious movement

Cargo cult is a term used to denote various spiritual and political movements that arose among indigenous Melanesians following Western colonisation of the region in the late 19th century. Although the term "cargo cult" has been used by anthropologists to "label almost any sort of organised, village-based social movement with religious and political aspirations", features common to most cargo cult groups include the presence of charismatic prophet figures foretelling an imminent cataclysm and/or a coming utopia for followers—a worldview known as millenarianism. Claims made by these prophets varied greatly from movement to movement, with some predicting the return of the dead or an abundance of food. Some movements sought to appease "ancestral spirits or other powerful beings" by either reviving ancestral traditions or adopting new rituals, such as ecstatic dancing or imitating the actions of colonists and military personnel. Some groups foretold the coming of a bounty of Western goods or money as part of their prophecy, although this was not a universal feature of such movements, with other prophets telling their followers to abandon Western goods. Anthropologists have described cargo cults as rooted in pre-existing aspects of Melanesian society, as a reaction to colonial oppression and inequality disrupting traditional village life, or both.

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Goroka is the capital of the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea. It is a town of approximately 19,000 people (2000), 1,600 meters above sea level. It has an airport and is on the "Highlands Highway", about 285 km (177 mi) from Lae in Morobe province and 90 km (56 mi) from the nearby town of Kainantu also in the Eastern Highlands. Other nearby towns include Kundiawa in Simbu Province and Mount Hagen in Western Highlands Province. It has a mild climate, known as a "perpetual Spring".

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References

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  6. Marty Zelenietz, Shirley Lindenbaum -Sorcery and Social Change in Melanesia 1981- Page 66 The body shadow or reflection of the tamam cannot fuse with & finiik in the ancestral underworld, for a "witch's" finiik spirit entirely disintegrates at death. There are no tamam in the idyllic abode of the ancestors.
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Further reading