Christianity in Somalia

Christianity by Country

Africa Algeria • Angola • Benin • Botswana • Burkina Faso • Burundi • Cameroon • Cape Verde • Chad • Comoros • Côte d'Ivoire • D.Rep. of Congo • Djibouti • Egypt • Eritrea • Ethiopia • Gabon • Ghana • Guinea-Bissau • Kenya • Lesotho • Liberia • Libya • Madagascar • Mali • Mauritania • Mauritius • Morocco • Mozambique • Namibia • Niger • Nigeria • Somalia • Sudan • Tanzania Asia Bangladesh • Bhutan • Brunei • Burma • Cambodia • China • Hong Kong • India • Indonesia • Japan • Kazakhstan • Korea • Laos • Malaysia • Maldives • Mongolia • Nepal • North Korea • Pakistan • Philippines • Russia • Singapore • South Korea • Sri Lanka • Taiwan • Tajikistan • Thailand • Turkmenistan • Uzbekistan • Vietnam Europe Albania • Armenia • Austria • Azerbaijan • Belarus • Belgium • Bosnia & Herzegovina • Bulgaria • Cyprus • Denmark • Finland • France • Georgia • Germany • Greece • Iceland • Ireland • Italy • Jersey • Kosovo • Lithuania • Luxembourg • Macedonia • Netherlands • Norway • Malta • Moldova • Montenegro • Poland • Portugal • Romania • Russia • Serbia • Turkey • Ukraine • United Kingdom North America Antigua & Barbuda • Belize • Canada • Costa Rica • Cuba • Dominican Republic • El Salvador • Guatemala • Mexico • Nicaragua • Panama • United States South America Brazil • Chile • Colombia • Ecuador • Guyana • Paraguay • Peru Middle East Afghanistan • Bahrain • Iran • Iraq • Israel • Jordan • Kuwait • Lebanon • Oman • Qatar • Saudi Arabia • Syria • United Arab Emirates • Yemen Oceania Australia • East Timor • Fiji • Kiribati • Marshall Islands • Micronesia • Nauru • New Zealand • Palau • Papua New Guinea Samoa • Tonga • Tuvalu • Vanuatu • Full list  •   v · d · e

Christianity is a minority religion in Somalia, with around 1,000 practitioners in a population of over eight million inhabitants.^[1][2] Most Christians in Somalia come from the Bantu minority ethnic group,^[3] and belong to the Evangelical and Wesleyan Church of the Nazarene. There is one Catholic diocese for the whole country, the Diocese of Mogadishu.

The Diocese of Mogadishu estimates that there were about 100 Roman Catholic practitioners in Somalia in 2004, down from 8,500 practitioners in 1950.^[4] 37 years earlier in 1913, during the early part of the colonial era, there were virtually no Christians in the Somali territories, with about 100–200 followers coming from the schools and orphanages of the few Catholic missions in the British Somaliland protectorate.^[5] There were also no known Catholic missions in Italian Somaliland during the same period.^[6]

According to the World Christian Encyclopedia, the Anglican Church, the Somalia Believers Fellowship, the Somalia Mennonite Mission and the Seventh-day Adventists are present in this country.^[7] The Episcopal Diocese of Egypt in Cairo also reportedly has jurisdiction over parishes in North Africa and the Horn of Africa.^[8] The Adventist Mission indicates that there are no Adventist members in Somalia, and that Christianity in general has seen little growth.^[9]

Persecution

Due to the ongoing civil war in the southern part of the country, professing Christians in Somalia face persecution and sometimes death. There are no church buildings in the country nor any legal protection for Christians, some of whom meet in underground churches.^[1] Paramilitary groups in Somalia have engaged in widespread looting of Christian graves,^[10] in addition to the desecration of Sufi Muslim graves and mosques.^[11] Sometimes the term "Christian" is a label that the jihadists affix on people they suspect of working for Ethiopian intelligence.^[1]

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.^[12]

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Almost expunged: Somalia's Embattled Christians". October 22, 2009. http://www.anglicanplanet.net/international-news/2009/11/30/almost-expunged-somalias-embattled-christians.html. Retrieved October 22, 2009. 
2. ^ Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division (2009) (.PDF). World Population Prospects, Table A.1. 2008 revision. United Nations. http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2008/wpp2008_text_tables.pdf. Retrieved March 12, 2009. 
3. ^ A study on minorities in Somalia
4. ^ Catholic Church in Somalia
5. ^ Charles George Herbermann, The Catholic encyclopedia: an international work of reference on the constitution, doctrine, discipline, and history of the Catholic church, Volume 14, (Robert Appleton company: 1913), p.139.
6. ^ Charles Henry Robinson, History of Christian Missions, (READ BOOKS: 2007), p. 356.
7. ^ World Christian Encyclopedia, (2nd edition), Volume 1, p. 673
8. ^ Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East
9. ^ Global Mission’s Top 10 Places to Pray for – REGION: NORTH Africa – Somalia
10. ^ Widspread [sic] desecration of Christian graves in Somalia
11. ^ Shabaab rebels destroy grave and mosque in Somalia
12. ^ "Al Shabaab Reportedly Beheads 4 Christians, Rips Gold Teeth From Locals' Mouths". FOX News. August 12, 2009. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,539129,00.html. Retrieved June 11, 2011. 

References

• http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=34745#