Religion in South Sudan

Christianity is the most widely professed religion in South Sudan, with significant minorities of the adherents of traditional African religions and Islam.

Religion in South Sudan (2020 estimate)^[1]

  Christianity (60.5%)

  Traditional African religions (32.9%)

  Islam (6.2%)

  Other (0.4%)

President Salva Kiir, a Catholic, while speaking at Saint Theresa Cathedral in Juba, stated that South Sudan would be a nation which respects freedom of religion.^[2] The reported estimated relative proportions of adherents of traditional African religions and Christianity have varied.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]} A 2019 study found that Protestants outnumbered Catholics in South Sudan.^[10]

History

Christianity has a long history in the region that is now South Sudan. Ancient Nubia was reached by Coptic Christianity by the 2nd century, and missionary activity from Ethiopia consolidated that community. In 1920, the Protestant Church Missionary Society originated a diocese.

Religious membership

In the early 1990s, official records of Sudan as a whole (Sudan and South Sudan) showed that a large percentage adhered to African Traditional Religion (17%) and Christianity (8%) (though both located mainly in the south, some also at Khartoum). Among Christians, most are Catholic and Anglican, though other denominations are also active, and African Traditional Religion beliefs are often blended with Christian beliefs.^[11][12][13]

In addition to news sources, the Anglican and Catholic churches claim large membership. The Anglican Communion claimed 2 million members in 2005 in the Episcopal Church of the Sudan.^[14] The third largest denomination in South Sudan is the Presbyterian Church in Sudan.^[15]

The most recent Pew Research Center on Religion and Public Life report from December 2012 estimated that in 2010, there were 6.010 million Christians (60.46%), 3.270 million followers of African Traditional Religion (32.9%), 610,000 Muslims (6.2%) and 50,000 unaffiliated (no known religion) of a total 9,940,000 people in South Sudan.^[16]

These figures are also disputed as the Pew Research Center on Religion and Public Life report cites 'The United Nations provided the Pew Forum with special estimates for Sudan and the new nation of South Sudan'.^[17] The UN does not have any official figures on ethnicity and religion outside National Census figures.

In 2022 the new Catholic bishop of Rumbek, Christian Carlassare, stated that "More than half the population of South Sudan is Christian, only 8% are Muslim. Other groups live on the margins, and have not drawn close to the Gospel. However, we live in a country where Christianity is often no more than skin deep, it hasn’t grown roots in the life of the population."^[18]

See also

• Catholicism in South Sudan
• Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan
• Islam in South Sudan

References

1. "South Sudan". Global Religious Futures. Pew Research Center. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
2. . Sudanradio.org. 21 February 2011. Archived from the original on 12 July 2011. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
3. "South Sudan profile". BBC News. 8 July 2011. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
4. "Background Note: Sudan" U.S. Department of State 9 November 2010 Retrieved 8 December 2010
5. Eric Kaufmann, Rethinking ethnicity: majority groups and dominant minorities. Routledge, 2004, p. 45.
6. Minahan, J. Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: S-Z. Greenwood Press, 2002, p. 1786.
7. Arnold, G. Book Review: Douglas H. Johnson, The Root Causes of Sudan's Civil Wars. African Journal of Political Science Vol.8 No. 1, 2003, p. 147.
8. "International Religious Freedom Report 2012 - South Sudan". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
9. Sudan: A Country Study Federal Research Division, Library of Congress – Chapter 2, Ethnicity, Regionalism and Ethnicity
10. https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/2019-07/pw_148-the_religious_landscape_in_south_sudan_challenges_and_opportunities_for_engagement.pdf^{[bare URL PDF]}
11. Christianity, in A Country Study: Sudan, U.S. Library of Congress.
12. "More than 100 dead in South Sudan attack-officials" 28 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine SABC News 21 September 2009 Retrieved 5 April 2011
13. Hurd, Emma "Southern Sudan Votes To Split From North" Sky News 8 February 2011 Retrieved 5 April 2011
14. "How many Anglicans are there in the Anglican Church in North America?"
15. (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 October 2013. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
16. Pew Forum on Religion 21 December 2012 at the Wayback Machine
17. [1] Global Religious Landscape
18. ACN (4 April 2022). "New bishop in South Sudan: "We must get back on our feet and give hope to the people"". ACN International. Retrieved 15 November 2022.

Sources

• Grillmeier, Aloys; Hainthaler, Theresia (1996). Christ in Christian Tradition: The Church of Alexandria with Nubia and Ethiopia after 451. Vol. 2/4. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 9780664223007.