Christianity in Africa

Christianity has been part of Africa since the very beginning, arriving in the 1st century AD. Today, it is the most followed religion across the continent, with over 700 million believers. Many important early Christian thinkers, such as Tertullian, Perpetua, Felicity, and Augustine of Hippo, were African.

One of the earliest nations to adopt Christianity was the Aksumite empire in what is now Ethiopia and Eritrea. Later, during the time when Islam spread across North Africa, many Christian communities stayed strong, especially in Ethiopia. These Christians kept their own special traditions and even sent out missionaries to other parts of Africa long before Europeans arrived.

In more recent times, starting in the late 1400s, European traders and missionaries brought Christianity to West Africa, including places like Guinea and Nigeria. During the 1800s, as European countries began to govern many parts of Africa, Christianity grew quickly. Today, Africa has more Christians than any other part of the world, with many people blending Christian beliefs with their own long-standing traditions.

History

Antiquity: Early Church

See also: Christianity in the Roman Africa province

Christianity reached Africa first in Egypt around the year 50 AD. Mark the Evangelist became the first bishop of the Alexandrian Patriarchate in about the year 43. At first the church in Alexandria was mainly Greek-speaking. By the end of the 2nd century the scriptures and liturgy had been translated into three local languages. Christianity in Sudan also spread in the early 1st century, and the Nubian churches, which were established in the sixth century within the kingdoms of Nobatia, Makuria and Alodia were linked to those of Egypt.

Christianity also grew in northwestern Africa (today known as the Maghreb), reaching the region around Carthage by the end of the 2nd century. The churches there were linked to the Church of Rome and provided Pope Gelasius I, Pope Miltiades and Pope Victor I, all of them Christian Berbers like Saint Augustine and his mother Saint Monica.

At the beginning of the 3rd century the church in Alexandria expanded rapidly, with five new suffragan bishoprics. At this time, the Bishop of Alexandria began to be called Pope, as the senior bishop in Egypt. In the middle of the 3rd century the church in Egypt suffered severely in the persecution under the Emperor Decius. Many Christians fled from the towns into the desert. When the persecution died down, however, some remained in the desert as hermits to pray. This was the beginning of Christian monasticism, which over the following years spread from Africa to other parts of the world, and Europe through France and Ireland.

The early 4th century in Egypt began with renewed persecution under the Emperor Diocletian. In the Ethiopian/Eritrean Kingdom of Aksum, King Ezana declared Christianity the official religion after having been converted by Frumentius, resulting in the promotion of Christianity in Ethiopia (eventually leading to the foundation of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church). At the beginning of the fifth century, no other region of the Roman Empire had as many bishoprics as Northern Africa; when the Vandal king summoned a synod in Carthage, 460 Catholic bishops attended.

In these first few centuries, African Christian leaders such as Origen, Lactantius, Augustine, Tertullian, Marius Victorinus, Pachomius, Didymus the Blind, Ticonius, Cyprian, Athanasius and Cyril (along with rivals Valentinus, Plotinus, Arius and Donatus Magnus) influenced the Christian world outside Africa with responses to Gnosticism, Arianism, Montanism, Marcionism, Pelagianism and Manichaeism and the idea of the university (after the Library of Alexandria), understanding of the Trinity, Vetus Latina translations, methods of exegesis and biblical interpretation, ecumenical councils, monasticism, Neoplatonism and African literary, dialectical and rhetorical traditions.

Early Middle Ages: After the Muslim conquest of North Africa

After the Muslim conquests, most of the early Muslim caliphs showed little interest in converting the local people to Islam. Christianity continued to exist after the Muslim conquests. Initially, Muslims remained a ruling minority within the conquered territories in the Middle East and North Africa. Overall, the non-Muslim population became a minority in these regions by the 8th century. The factors and processes that led to the Islamization of these regions, as well as the speed at which conversions happened, is a complex subject. Among other rules, the Muslim rulers imposed a special poll tax, the jizya, on non-Muslims, which acted as an economic pressure to convert alongside other social advantages converts could gain in Muslim society. The Catholic church gradually declined along with local Latin dialect.

Historians have considered many theories to explain the decline of Christianity in North Africa, proposing diverse factors such as the recurring internal wars and external invasions in the region during late antiquity, Christian fears of persecution by the invaders, schisms and a lack of leadership within the Christian church in Africa, political pragmatism among the inhabitants under the new regime, and a possible lack of differentiation between early Islamic and local Christian theologies that may have made it easier for laymen to accept the new religion. Some Christians, especially those with financial means, also left for Europe. In the lands west of Egypt, the Church at that time lacked the backbone of a monastic tradition and was still suffering from the aftermath of heresies including the so-called Donatist heresy, and one theory proposes this as a factor that contributed to the early obliteration of the Church in the present day Maghreb. Proponents of this theory compare this situation with the strong monastic tradition in Egypt and Syria, where Christianity remained more vigorous. In addition, the Romans and the Byzantines were unable to completely assimilate the indigenous people like the Berbers.

Some historians remark how the Umayyad Caliphate persecuted many Berber Christians in the 7th and 8th centuries CE, who slowly converted to Islam. Other modern historians further recognize that the Christian populations living in the lands invaded by the Arab Muslim armies between the 7th and 10th centuries CE suffered religious persecution, religious violence, and martyrdom multiple times at the hands of Arab Muslim officials and rulers. Many were executed under the Islamic death penalty for defending their Christian faith through dramatic acts of resistance such as refusing to convert to Islam, repudiation of the Islamic religion and subsequent reconversion to Christianity, and blasphemy towards Muslim beliefs.

From the Muslim conquest of Egypt onwards, the Coptic Christians were persecuted by different Muslim regimes. Islamization was likely slower in Egypt than in other Muslim-controlled regions. Up until the Fatimid period (10th to 12th centuries), Christians likely still constituted a majority of the population, although scholarly estimates on this issue are tentative and vary between authors. Under the reign of the Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim (r. 96–1021), an exceptional persecution of Christians occurred, This included closing and demolishing churches and forced conversion to Islam, which brought about a wave of conversions.

There are reports that the Roman Catholic faith persisted in the region from Tripolitania (present-day western Libya) to present-day Morocco for several centuries after the completion of the Arab conquest by 700. A Christian community is recorded in 1114 in Qal'a in central Algeria. There is also evidence of religious pilgrimages after 850 to tombs of Catholic saints outside the city of Carthage, and evidence of religious contacts with Christians of Muslim Spain. In addition, calendar reforms adopted in Europe at this time were disseminated amongst the indigenous Christians of Tunis, which would have not been possible had there been an absence of contact with Rome.

High Middle Ages: Decline and first missions

Local Christians came under pressure when the Muslim regimes of the Almohads and Almoravids came into power, and the record shows demands made that the local Christians of Tunis convert to Islam. There are reports of Christian inhabitants and a bishop in the city of Kairouan around 1150 AD - a significant event, since this city was founded by Arab Muslims around 680 AD as their administrative center after their conquest. A letter in Catholic Church archives from the 14th century shows that there were still four bishoprics left in North Africa, admittedly a sharp decline from the over four hundred bishoprics in existence at the time of the Arab conquest. The Almohad Abd al-Mu'min forced the Christians and Jews of Tunis to convert in 1159. Ibn Khaldun hinted at a native Christian community in 14th century in the villages of Nefzaoua, south-west of Tozeur. These paid the jizyah and had some people of Frankish descent among them. Berber Christians continued to live in Tunis and Nefzaoua in the south of Tunisia up until the early 15th century, and in the first quarter of the 15th century texts state that the native Christians of Tunis, though much assimilated, extended their church, perhaps because the last Christians from all over the Maghreb had gathered there. However, they were not in communion with the Catholic Church. The community of Tunisian Christians existed in the town of Tozeur up to the 18th century.

Another group of Christians who came to North Africa after being deported from Islamic Spain were called the Mozarabs. They were recognised as forming the Moroccan Church by Pope Innocent IV.

First missions to Northern Africa

In June 1225, Honorius III issued the bull Vineae Domini custodes that permitted two friars of the Dominican Order named Dominic and Martin to establish a mission in Morocco and look after the affairs of Christians there. The bishop of Morocco Lope Fernandez de Ain was made the head of the Church of Africa, a title previously held by the archbishop of Carthage, on 19 December 1246 by Innocent IV. The bishopric of Marrakesh continued to exist until the late 16th century.

The medieval Moroccan historian Ibn Abi Zar stated that the Almohad caliph Abu al-Ala Idris al-Ma'mun had built a church in Marrakesh for the Christians to freely practice their faith at Fernando III's insistence. Innocent IV asked emirs of Tunis, Ceuta and Bugia to permit Lope and Franciscian friars to look after the Christians in those regions. He thanked the Caliph al-Sa'id for granting protection to the Christians and requested to allow them to create fortresses along the shores, but the Caliph rejected this request.

Early Modern Age: Jesuit missions in Africa

Another phase of Christianity in Africa began with the arrival of Portuguese in the 15th century. After the end of Reconquista, the Christian Portuguese and Spanish captured many ports in North Africa.

Missionary expeditions undertaken by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) began as early as 1548 in various regions of Africa. In 1561, Gonçalo da Silveira, a Portuguese missionary, managed to baptize Monomotapa, king of the Shona people in the territory of Zimbabwe. A modest sized group of Jesuits began to establish their presence in the area of Abyssinia, or Ethiopia Superior, around the same time of Silveira's presence in Southern Africa. Although Jesuits regularly confronted persecution and harassment, their mission withstood the test of time for nearly a century. Despite this confrontation, they found success in instituting Catholic doctrine in a region that, prior to the existence of their vocation, maintained strictly established orthodoxies. During the sixteenth century, Jesuits extended their mission into the old Kongo Kingdom, developing upon a preexisting Catholic mission which had culminated in the construction of a local church. Jesuit missions functioned similarly in Mozambique and Angola until in 1759 the Society was overcome by Portuguese authority.

The Jesuits went largely unchallenged by rival denominational missions in Africa. Other religious congregations did exist who sought to evangelize regions of the continent under Portuguese dominion, however, their influence was far less significant than that of the Christians. The Jesuit's ascendency to prominence began with the padroado in the fifteenth century and continued until other European countries initiated missions of their own, threatening Portugal's status as sole patron of the continent. The favor of the Jesuits took a negative turn in the mid eighteenth century when Portugal no longer held the same dominion in Africa as it had in the fifteenth century. The Jesuits found themselves expelled from Mozambique and Angola, as a result, the existence of Catholic missions diminished significantly in these regions.

The bishopric of Marrakesh continued to exist until the late 16th century and was borne by the suffragans of Seville. Juan de Prado who had attempted to re-establish the mission was killed in 1631. A Franciscan monastery built in 1637 was destroyed in 1659 after the downfall of the Saadi dynasty. A small Franciscan chapel and monastery in the mellah of the city existed until the 18th century.

20th century

The horn of Africa

The Orthodox Tewahedo split into the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church in 1993. The P'ent'ay churches are works of a Protestant reformation within Ethiopian Christianity.

The Maghreb

The growth of Catholicism in the region after the French conquest was built on European colonizers and settlers, and these immigrants and their descendants mostly left when the countries of the region became independent. As of the last census in Algeria, taken on 1 June 1960, there were 1,050,000 non-Muslim civilians (mostly Catholic) in Algeria (10 percent of the total population including 140,000 Algerian Jews). Under French rule, the Catholic population of Algeria peaked at over one million. Due to the exodus of the pieds-noirs in the 1960s, more North African Christians of Berber or Arab descent now live in France than in Greater Maghreb.

In 2009, the UNO counted 45,000 Roman Catholics and 50,000 to 100,000 Protestants in Algeria. Conversions to Christianity have been most common in Kabylie, especially in the wilaya of Tizi Ouzou. In that wilaya, the proportion of Christians has been estimated to be between 1% and 5%. A 2015 study estimates 380,000 Muslims converted to Christianity in Algeria.

Before the independence in 1956; Morocco was home to half a million Europeans, mostly Christians. The numbers of the Catholics in French Morocco reached about 360,000 or about 4.1% of the population. In 1950, Catholics in Spanish protectorate in Morocco and Tangier constitute 14.5% of the population, and the Spanish Morocco was home to 113,000 Catholic settlers. Catholics in Spanish protectorate in Morocco and Tangier were mostly of Spanish descent, and to a lesser extent of Portuguese, French and Italian ancestry. The U.S. State Department estimates the number of Moroccan Christians as more than 40,000. Pew-Templeton estimates the number of Moroccan Christians at 20,000. Most Christians reside in the Casablanca, Tangier and Rabat urban areas. The majority of Christians in Morocco are foreigners, although some reports states that there is a growing number of native Moroccans (45,000) converting to Christianity, especially in the rural areas. Many of the converts are baptized secretly in Morocco's churches. Since 1960 a growing number of Moroccan Muslims are converting to Christianity.

Before the independence in 1956; Tunisia was home to 255,000 Europeans, mostly Christians. The Christian community in Tunisia, composed of indigenous residents, Tunisians of Italian and French descent, and a large group of native-born citizens of Berber and Arab descent, numbers 50,000 and is dispersed throughout the country. The Office for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor in the United States also noted the presence of thousands of Tunisians who converted to Christianity.

Some scholars and media reports indicate that there been increasing numbers of conversions to Christianity among the Berbers.

Africanizing Christianity

See also: African-initiated church

African Christians, including those of Coptic, Berber, Ethiopian, Arabic, and Moorish backgrounds, are important parts of the many cultures within African Christianity. Africans have adapted Christianity to fit their own traditions and beliefs. For example, the Kimbanguist church, started by Simon Kimbangu, believed that Jesus was black and had different views on church symbols than European Christians. This church also allowed women to be priests and preachers.

Some Africans also looked at the Bible in their own languages, which helped them understand it in new ways. This led to debates, like whether polygamy was acceptable, since it appeared in the Old Testament. Unfortunately, some leaders who supported these new ideas faced serious trouble.

During the 1918 influenza pandemic, many Africans lost their lives, and they felt that European leaders could not help them. This made Africans want to create their own Christian churches that fit their needs and beliefs better. For example, the Aladura movement began in Nigeria during this time and grew into many different churches around the world.

Christian education in Africa

Christian missionaries worked hard to share their beliefs in the languages of the local people they wanted to teach. They translated the Bible into these native languages so everyone could understand. In Christian schools, children also learned English, math, philosophy, and values from Western culture. These schools sometimes had different goals because some focused more on religion while others looked at more general education.

Current status

The number of Christians in Africa has grown very quickly. In 1900, there were only nine million Christians, but by 2000, that number grew to about 380 million. By 2020, there were nearly 658 million Christians in Africa, and it's expected to reach 760 million by 2025. In 2020, Christians made up 49% of Africa's population, with Muslims making up 42%. As of 2023, there are about 718 million Christians across the continent.

Many African Christians belong to groups known as renewalists, including Pentecostals and Charismatics. Much of this growth comes from African-led missions and higher birth rates, rather than from European missionaries. Christianity in Africa includes many different forms, from ancient traditions in Egypt, Ethiopia, and Eritrea to newer groups in Nigeria. There are also many different churches, like the Nazareth Baptist Church in South Africa and the Aladura churches in Nigeria. Some missions started in Africa, like UD-OLGC, are now influencing Christians around the world. There are also many Seventh-day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses in Africa. Some experts believe that the center of Christianity may shift from Europe to Africa and Asia in the future.

The rise of the megachurch

Megachurches are very large churches that have at least 2,000 people attending each weekend. They are common in countries such as Tanzania, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda. Most of these churches belong to Pentecostal groups. The biggest church building, called Glory Dome, opened in 2018 in Abuja, Nigeria, and it has space for 100,000 people.

Statistics by country

Main article: Christianity by country

Denominations

Main article: List of Christian denominations by number of members

In 2020, it was predicted that about 53% of Africa's people would be Christian. Today, there are believed to be up to eight hundred million Christians on the continent.

Catholicism

Main article: Catholic Church in Africa

The number of people who belong to the Catholic Church grew from 2 million in 1900 to 140 million in 2000. By 2005, around 135 million of Africa's 809 million people followed the Catholic Church, including Eastern Catholic Churches. When Pope Benedict XVI visited Africa in 2009, the number was about 158 million. Most are part of the Latin Church, but millions also belong to the Eastern Catholic Churches.

Orthodoxy

Oriental Orthodoxy

See also: Oriental Orthodox Churches

• Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church – 37 million
• Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria – 10 million
• Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church – 2 million

Eastern Orthodoxy

See also: Eastern Orthodoxy

• Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria – 500 000

Protestantism

In 2010, it was estimated that there were around 300 million Protestants in Sub-Saharan Africa. Some estimates go up to four hundred million. Protestantism is the largest Christian group in Africa, making up 35.9% of the population in sub-Saharan Africa and over half of the continent's people. There are believed to be about two hundred million evangelical Christians in Africa. There are also around 60 million Anglicans and 23 million Lutherans. About 29 million Baptists, 25 million Methodists, and more than twenty million Presbyterians live in Africa. There are also about 12 million Adventists and 19 million people in United churches.

Anglicanism

See also: Anglicanism

• Church of Nigeria – 20.1 million
• Church of Uganda – 8.1 million
• Anglican Church of Kenya – 5.0 million
• Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan – 4.5 million
• Anglican Church of Southern Africa – 2.3 million
• Anglican Church of Tanzania – 2.0 million
• Anglican Church of Rwanda – 1.0 million
• Church of the Province of Central Africa – 900,000
• Anglican Church of Burundi – 800,000
• Church of Christ in Congo–Anglican Community of Congo – 500,000
• Church of the Province of West Africa – 300,000
• Reformed Evangelical Anglican Church of South Africa – 90,000

Baptists

See also: Baptists

• Nigerian Baptist Convention – 5.0 million
• Baptist Union of Uganda – 2.5 million
• Baptist Community of Congo – 2.1 million
• Baptist Convention of Tanzania – 2.0 million
• Baptist Community of the Congo River – 1.1 million
• Baptist Convention of Kenya – 600,000
• Baptist Convention of Malawi – 300,000
• Ghana Baptist Convention – 300,000
• Union of Baptist Churches in Rwanda – 300,000
• Evangelical Baptist Church of the Central African Republic – 200,000

Catholic Apostolic Church (Irvingism)

See also: Catholic Apostolic Church

• New Apostolic Church – 16 million

Lutheranism

Lutheranism in Africa includes about 24.13 million people.

• Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus – 8.3 million
• Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania – 6.5 million
• Malagasy Lutheran Church – 3.0 million
• The Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria – 2.2 million
• Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia – 700,000
• Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa – 600,000
• Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia – 400,000
• Evangelical Lutheran Church of Cameroon – 300,000
• Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe – 300,000

Methodism

See also: Methodism

There are over 20 Methodist denominations in Africa, with the World Methodist Council counting 17.08 million members across the continent.

• Methodist Church Nigeria – 2 million
• Methodist Church of Southern Africa – 1.7 million
• United Methodist Church of Ivory Coast – 1.08 million
• Methodist Church Ghana – 800,000
• Methodist Church in Kenya – 500,000
• The United Methodist Church in Liberia – 350,000
• Free Methodist church in Congo– 110,000

Reformed (Calvinism)

See also: Calvinism

• Presbyterian Church of East Africa – 4.0 million
• Presbyterian Church of Nigeria – 3.8 million
• Presbyterian Church of Africa – 3.4 million
• Church of Christ in Congo–Presbyterian Community of Congo – 2.5 million
• Presbyterian Church of Cameroon – 1.8 million
• Church of Central Africa Presbyterian – 1.3 million
• Presbyterian Church in Sudan – 1.0 million
• Presbyterian Church in Cameroon – 700,000
• Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana – 600,000
• Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa – 500,000
• Presbyterian Church in Rwanda – 300,000
• Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar – 3.5 million
• United Church in Zambia – 3.0 million
• Evangelical Church of Cameroon – 2.5 million
• Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) – 1.1 million
• Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa – 500,000
• Lesotho Evangelical Church – 300,000
• Christian Reformed Church of Nigeria – 300,000
• Reformed Church in Zambia – 300,000
• Evangelical Reformed Church in Angola – 200,000
• Church of Christ in the Sudan Among the Tiv – 200,000
• Evangelical Church of Congo – 200,000
• Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola – 900,000
• United Congregational Church of Southern Africa – 500,000

Pentecostalism

The number of Pentecostal Christians in Africa was around 202.29 million in 2015, making up 35.32 percent of the continent's Christian population. Some studies suggest there could be up to four hundred million Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians in Africa.

• Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church – 9 million
• Ethiopian Full Gospel Believers' Church – 4.5 million
• – 1 million
• General Council of the Assemblies of God Nigeria - 3.6 million
• Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa – 1.2 million^{[citation needed]}
• Association of Pentecostal Churches of Rwanda – 1 million^{[citation needed]}

Mennonites

See also: Mennonites

• Meserete Kristos Church – 470,000

Other evangelical groups

• Evangelical church of west africa – 5 million^{[citation needed]}

Other Christian groups

There are about 97 million Christians in Africa who do not belong to any specific church group. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimates that up to 128 million Christians are independent from denominations.

African-initiated churches

About 60 million people belong to African-initiated churches.

• Zion Christian Church – 15 million^{[citation needed]}
• Eternal Sacred Order of Cherubim and Seraphim – 10 million^{[citation needed]}
• Kimbanguist Church – 5.5 million^{[citation needed]}
• Redeemed Christian Church of God – 5 million
• Church of the Lord (Aladura) – 3.6 million
• Council of African Instituted Churches – 3 million
• Church of Christ Light of the Holy Spirit – 1.4 million
• African Church of the Holy Spirit – 700,000
• African Israel Church Nineveh – 500,000

Restorationism

See also: Restorationism

• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – 600,000