Christianity is the most widely professedreligion inSouth Sudan, with significant minorities of the adherents oftraditional faiths andIslam.
PresidentSalva Kiir, aCatholic, while speaking atSt. Theresa Cathedral inJuba, stated that South Sudan would be a nation which respectsfreedom of religion.[3][4] The reported estimated relative proportions of adherents of traditional African religions andChristianity have varied.[5][6][7][8][9] A 2019 study found that Protestants outnumbered Catholics in South Sudan.[10]
Christianity has a long history in the region that is nowSouth Sudan. AncientNubia was reached byCoptic Christianity by the 1st century,[citation needed] andChristian missionary activity from neighbouringEthiopia consolidated that community. In 1920, the ProtestantChurch Missionary Society originated a diocese.
In the early 1990s, official records of Sudan as a whole (Sudan and South Sudan) showed that a large percentage adhered to African traditional religions (17%) and Christianity (8%) (though both located mainly in the south, some also at Khartoum). Among Christians, most areCatholic andAnglican, though other denominations were also active, andtraditional African religions' beliefs were often blended with Christian beliefs.[11][12][13]
The Anglican and Catholic churches both claimed large membership; theAnglican Communion claimed 2 million members in 2005 in theEpiscopal Church of the Sudan.[14] The third largest denomination was thePresbyterian Church in Sudan.[15]
The 2020 Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project report estimated that Christians made up 60.5% of the population, while followers of indigenous (animist) religions made up 32.9% and Muslims, 6.2%. The remainder of the population was made up of followers of Baha’i, Buddhist, Hindu, and Jewish faiths;[16] however, the country’s population displacement made it difficult to collect accurate details.
In 2022 the new Catholic bishop ofRumbek,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."[17]
Since its independence in 2011, South Sudan has been frequently visited by global religious leaders.Franklin Graham led theHope for A New Nation Festival in Juba in 2012, gathering 95,000 attendees.[18] On 12 November 2019, evangelistT. B. Joshua fromNigeria addressed the South Sudanese nation at the Presidential Palace in Juba in the presence of PresidentSalva Kiir Mayardit.[19] From 2-4 February 2023,Justin Welby (Anglican Communion),Pope Francis (Catholic Church), andIain Greenshields (Church of Scotland Moderator) visited South Sudan through a three-day "pilgrimage of peace to the world's newest nation".[20]
