Religion in Papua New Guinea

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Religion in Papua New Guinea is predominantly Christian with traditional animist and ancestor worship still found in some places.

The courts and government in both theory and practice uphold a constitutional right to freedom of speech, thought, and belief.

The 2000 census showed 96 percent of citizens were members of a Christian church, however many citizens may combine their Christian faith with some pre-Christian traditional indigenous practices.^[1] The census percentages were as follows:

• Roman Catholic Church (27.0%)
• Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea (19.5%)
• United Church (11.5%)
• Seventh-day Adventist Church (10.0%)
• Pentecostal (8.6%)
• Evangelical Alliance (5.2%)
• Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea (3.2%)
• Baptist (2.5%)
• Salvation Army (0.2%)
• Other Christian (8.0%) ^[2]

Contents 1 Christianity 2 Other religions 3 Traditional religions 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Christianity

The Papua New Guinea Council of Churches members are:

• Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea
• Gutnius Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod)
• Union Baptist
• Roman Catholic Church
• Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea
• United Church in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands
• Salvation Army

There are also a number of parachurch organizations:

• The Summer Institute of Linguistics is an important missionary institution drawing its support from conservative evangelical Protestant churches in the United States and to a lesser extent Australia; it translates the New Testament into native languages.
• Young Women's Christian Association

[edit] Other religions

Minority religions include the Jehovah's Witness (20,000) and the Church of Christ (20,000), while Islam counts approximately 1,000 to 2,000 followers^{[citation needed]}, mostly of immigrant origin.

[edit] Traditional religions

Traditional religions were animist and also tended to have elements of ancestor worship.

[edit] See also

• Religious life of the Korowa

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Anglican history in Papua New Guinea - primary texts