560:
69:
161:
The first
Catholic mission started in 1863. It was called Motse-oa-'M'a-Jesu and led by Bishop Allard. He invited Holy Family Sisters from France to work with Sotho women. The initial efforts aimed at gaining converts as well as ending the practice of polygyny where old men paid a bride price to
157:
in the 1830s. While King
Moshoeshoe I invited Christian missionaries, he retained his traditional religion and divorced two of his wives who had converted to Christianity. Initial reports of French evangelist missionaries alleged cannibalism as a part of Lesotho traditional religion. Later
108:
report found
Protestants slightly outnumbered Catholics. Non-Christian religions represent only 1.5% of the population, and those of no religion 3.5%. The non-Christian people primarily subscribe to traditional African religions, with small groups of
181:
The traditional Sotho religion is traceable with archaeological evidence to around the 10th century. They share themes with the Tswana traditional religion. The Chief of a Sotho community was also their spiritual leader. Ancestor spirits called
158:
missionaries such as Henry
Callaway, as well as anthropologists, consider those initial reports as unreliable and mythical, rather than a historical or true representation of the traditional religion of the Lesotho people.
129:
In 2020, Catholics accounted for 45 percent of the population while
Protestants represented 31 percent and other Christians an additional 18 percent. The Catholic population is served by the province of the Metropolitan
162:
marry young girls. The later efforts attracted resistance from the traditional families. According to Allard's memoirs, Sotho women converted to
Catholicism in larger numbers earlier than Sotho men.
755:
817:
962:
139:
534:
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worship practices were a significant part of the Sotho community, along with rituals such as rainmaking dance. The Sotho had developed the concept of
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143:
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292:
952:
489:
462:
435:
408:
330:
565:
170:
1096:
1041:
165:
The two
Christian denominations have historic links to two major political parties in Lesotho. The Catholic Church has supported the
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135:
588:
1052:
832:
725:
673:
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253:
228:
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598:
223:
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218:
872:
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987:
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68:
1022:
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957:
907:
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613:
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543:
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997:
942:
897:
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772:
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504:
485:
479:
458:
452:
431:
404:
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326:
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1007:
912:
807:
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683:
573:
370:
233:
740:
708:
663:
658:
593:
713:
688:
638:
633:
628:
198:, in Sotho theology, created lesser deities with powers to interact with human beings.
1146:
578:
278:
94:
72:
43:
33:
154:
83:
17:
346:
425:
745:
735:
169:, while the Evangelicals have been aligned with the Basotho Congress Party. The
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53:
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Christianity arrived in
Lesotho from French missions at the invitation of King
555:
118:
76:
293:"Table: Christian Population as Percentages of Total Population by Country"
603:
648:
454:
Christianity in South Africa: A Political, Social, and
Cultural History
427:
African
Traditional Religion in South Africa: An Annotated Bibliography
110:
89:
512:
190:
184:
114:
209:
In 2023, the country was scored 4 out of 4 for religious freedom.
277:
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the
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The Lesotho constitution protects the freedom of religion.
392:
390:
457:. University of California Press. pp. 198–199.
1035:
754:
550:
173:represents the Holy See to the Lesotho government.
481:Africa: An Encyclopedia of Culture and Society
347:"Lesotho: Demographic and Health Survey, 2014"
528:
322:Routledge Companion to Christianity in Africa
8:
397:Mark Juergensmeyer; Wade Clark Roof (2011).
314:
312:
310:
505:Freedom House website, retrieved 2023-08-08
535:
521:
513:
478:Toyin Falola; Daniel Jean-Jacques (2015).
134:and his three suffragans (the bishops of
269:
267:
265:
263:
67:
295:. Pew Research Center. 19 December 2011
245:
383:The ARDA website, retrieved 2023-08-28
7:
566:Traditional African religions portal
403:. SAGE Publications. p. 699.
25:
171:nuncio accredited to South Africa
106:United States Department of State
1097:Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
818:Democratic Republic of the Congo
558:
352:. Ministry of Health. p. 38
400:Encyclopedia of Global Religion
325:. Routledge. pp. 393–394.
101:being its main denominations.
484:. ABC-CLIO. pp. 644–645.
146:), who also form the national
1:
726:Traditional African religions
75:. Lesotho is a predominantly
319:Elias Kifon Bongmba (2015).
229:Christian Council of Lesotho
878:Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire)
599:Traditional Berber religion
224:Anglican Diocese of Lesotho
1169:
1134:African diaspora religions
219:Catholic Church in Lesotho
1130:
584:Ancient Egyptian religion
274:US State Dept 2022 report
194:, the Supreme Being. The
803:Central African Republic
451:Richard Elphick (1997).
430:. ABC-CLIO. p. 42.
424:David Chidester (1997).
62: Others / None (7%)
73:St. Michael's Cathedral
167:Basotho National Party
80:
963:São Tomé and Príncipe
953:Republic of the Congo
71:
32:Religion in Lesotho (
177:Traditional religion
148:episcopal conference
132:Archbishop of Maseru
1153:Religion in Lesotho
719:Serer creation myth
18:Hinduism in Lesotho
704:Malagasy mythology
614:Bushongo mythology
544:Religion in Africa
81:
1140:
1139:
1046:other territories
833:Equatorial Guinea
731:Tumbuka mythology
694:Lugbara mythology
679:Khoe/San religion
624:Dahomean religion
491:978-1-59884-666-9
464:978-0-520-20940-4
437:978-0-313-30474-3
410:978-1-4522-6656-5
332:978-1-134-50577-7
16:(Redirected from
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756:Sovereign states
699:Maasai mythology
684:Lotuko mythology
574:Akamba mythology
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563:
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234:Islam in Lesotho
202:Religious rights
86:is the dominant
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21:
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741:Yoruba religion
709:Mbuti mythology
664:Isoko mythology
594:Bantu mythology
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510:
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1116:Western Sahara
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1062:
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1053:Canary Islands
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714:Serer religion
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691:
689:Lozi mythology
686:
681:
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666:
661:
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651:
646:
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639:Efik mythology
636:
634:Dogon religion
631:
629:Dinka religion
626:
621:
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604:Bono mythology
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373:, CIA Factbook
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873:Guinea-Bissau
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746:Zulu religion
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649:Igbo religion
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579:Akan religion
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279:public domain
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140:Mohale's Hoek
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95:Protestantism
92:
91:
85:
78:
74:
70:
55:
45:
44:Protestantism
37:
35:
34:Afrobarometer
27:
19:
1108:
1095:
1082:
1037:Dependencies
988:South Africa
978:Sierra Leone
887:
783:Burkina Faso
619:Christianity
589:Baháʼí Faith
500:
480:
473:
453:
446:
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366:
354:. Retrieved
341:
321:
297:. Retrieved
287:
276:
248:
208:
205:
195:
189:
183:
180:
164:
160:
155:Moshoeshoe I
152:
128:
125:Christianity
103:
88:religion in
87:
84:Christianity
82:
31:
26:
993:South Sudan
736:Waaqeffanna
144:Qacha's Nek
99:Catholicism
54:Catholicism
1132:See also:
1123:(Tanzania)
1110:Somaliland
1103:St. Helena
1067:(Portugal)
1042:autonomies
973:Seychelles
933:Mozambique
918:Mauritania
903:Madagascar
858:The Gambia
798:Cape Verde
654:Irreligion
240:References
923:Mauritius
551:Religions
254:"Lesotho"
104:The 2022
77:Christian
1147:Category
1121:Zanzibar
1092:(France)
1084:Puntland
1073:(France)
1028:Zimbabwe
1003:Tanzania
848:Ethiopia
843:Eswatini
823:Djibouti
793:Cameroon
778:Botswana
644:Hinduism
609:Buddhism
356:21 April
299:21 April
213:See also
1090:Réunion
1079:(Spain)
1077:Melilla
1071:Mayotte
1065:Madeira
1061:(Spain)
1055:(Spain)
1013:Tunisia
983:Somalia
968:Senegal
948:Nigeria
938:Namibia
928:Morocco
893:Liberia
888:Lesotho
838:Eritrea
813:Comoros
788:Burundi
763:Algeria
674:Judaism
669:Jainism
371:Lesotho
119:Baha'is
111:Muslims
93:, with
90:Lesotho
79:nation.
1023:Zambia
1018:Uganda
958:Rwanda
908:Malawi
868:Guinea
768:Angola
488:
461:
434:
407:
329:
196:Modimo
191:Modimo
185:Badimo
136:Leribe
115:Hindus
60:
52:
50:
42:
40:
36:2020)
1059:Ceuta
1044:, and
998:Sudan
943:Niger
898:Libya
883:Kenya
863:Ghana
853:Gabon
828:Egypt
773:Benin
659:Islam
350:(PDF)
56:(41%)
46:(52%)
1105:(UK)
1008:Togo
913:Mali
808:Chad
486:ISBN
459:ISBN
432:ISBN
405:ISBN
358:2018
327:ISBN
301:2018
142:and
117:and
97:and
1149::
389:^
309:^
262:^
150:.
138:,
121:.
113:,
1039:,
536:e
529:t
522:v
494:.
467:.
440:.
413:.
360:.
335:.
303:.
281:.
256:.
20:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
