Religion in Samoa
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Religion in Samoa encompasses a range of groups. Nearly 100% of the population of Samoa is Christian.[1] The 2001 census revealed the following distribution of Christian groups: Congregational Christian, 34.8 percent; Roman Catholic, 19.6 percent; Methodist, 15 percent; the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), 12.7 percent; Assemblies of God, 6.6 percent; and Seventh-day Adventist, 3.5 percent.[1] These statistics reflected continual growth in the number and size of Mormons and Assemblies of God and a relative decline in the membership of the historically larger denominations.[1] The following groups constitute less than 5 percent of the population: Nazarene, Anglican, Congregational Church of Jesus, Worship Centre, Jehovah's Witnesses, Full Gospel, Peace Chapel, Elim Church, Voice of Christ, and Baptist.[1]
There are also members of other religions such as Islam and the Baha'i Faith — the country hosts one of only seven Baha'i Houses of Worship in the world.[1] The Baha'i Houses of Worship was dedicated by Malietoa Tanumafili II, King of Samoa (1913-2007), who was the first reigning Bahá'í monarch.[2] Although there were no official data, it is generally believed that there are also some practicing Hindus, Buddhists, and Jews in the capital city.[1]
All religious groups are multiethnic; none is exclusively comprised of foreign nationals or native-born (Western) Samoans.[1] There are no sizable foreign national or immigrant groups, with the exception of U.S. nationals from American Samoa.[1] Missionaries operated freely within the country.[1]
There is strong societal pressure at the village and local level to participate in church services and other activities, and financially support church leaders and projects.[1] In some denominations, such financial contributions often total more than 30 percent of family income.[1]
The constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the government generally respected this right in practice.[1] The US government found there to be no reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious belief or practice in 2007.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m International Religious Freedom Report 2007: Samoa. United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (September 14, 2007). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Bahá'í International Community. "Funeral and memorial service planned for Samoan head of state", Bahá'í World News Service, 2007-05-14. Retrieved on 2007-05-14.
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