Religion in El Salvador

File:SalvadorDelMundo.jpg, a landmark located in the country's capital, San Salvador.]]

According to the World Religion Database 2020, 96.68% of the population has a Christian background and 2.57% is non-religious (atheist or agnostic); 0.57% follow ethnic religions.[https://www.thearda.com/world-religion/national-profiles?u=74c#IRFDEMOG World Religion Database, retrieved 2023-08-03]

There is some debate about percentages. The Institute of Public Opinion of the University of Central America in May 2017 found 47.5% of the population as Catholics, and 35.1% as Protestant, 14.5% as not having a religion and the remainder (about 3%) being Jehovah's Witnesses, ISKON, Muslims, Jews, Baháʼís, Buddhists, Latter-day Saints, and members of indigenous religions.{{cite web |title=International Religious Freedom Report for 2017: El Salvador |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/religiousfreedom/index.htm?year=2017&dlid=281072 |website=www.state.gov |access-date=31 December 2018}} For percentages it cites the Institute of Public Opinion of the University of Central America May 2017 survey. However, Latinobarómetro in 2017 found 39% were Catholic, 28% Protestant, 30% atheist/agnostic/not religious, 2% other religions, and 1% did not answer. It also found in 1996 that 67% of the population considered themselves Catholic and 15% Protestant.{{cite web|title=Latinobarómetro 1995 - 2017: El Papa Francisco y la Religión en Chile y América Latina|url=http://www.cooperativa.cl/noticias/site/artic/20180112/asocfile/20180112124342/f00006494_religion_chile_america_latina_2017.pdf|access-date=23 August 2018|language=es|date=January 2018}} A 2023 survey by M&R Consultores found that 43.5% of the population was affiliated with Protestantism, 36.2% with Catholicism and 19.3% with no religion.{{Cite web| title=Afiliación, participación y prácticas religiosas | language=es | trans-title=Affiliation, participation and religious practices | url=https://www.el19digital.com/app/webroot/tinymce/source/2023/AGOSTO/16Ago/ENCUESTA/encuesta.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230817172056/https://www.el19digital.com/app/webroot/tinymce/source/2023/AGOSTO/16Ago/ENCUESTA/encuesta.pdf | archive-date=2023-08-17}}{{cite web | url=https://jpmas.com.ni/catholic-believers-decline-in-central-america/ | title=Catholic believers decline in Central America | date=17 August 2023 }}

Mision Cristiana Elim Internacional is a large pentecostal denomination started in El Salvador. It claims that its main church in San Salvador has 120,000 attending.{{cite web|title=Células|date=4 January 2011 |url=http://www.elim.org.sv/celulas/|publisher=Elim Mision Cristiana|access-date=26 April 2015}} The Assemblies of God claim 285,226 members (2007).{{cite web|last1=Triplett|first1=Don|title=King's Castle 24/7 Prayer Fortress|url=http://worldmissions.ag.org/regions/latinamcab/__.cfm?targetBay=ac6d31db-8d8e-42ff-9454-08eb791d73e7&Process=DisplayArticle&RSS_RSSContentID=9795&RSS_OriginatingChannelID=1164&RSS_OriginatingRSSFeedID=3692&RSS_Source=|publisher=Assemblies of God World Mission|access-date=26 April 2015}}

The Anglican Church in El Salvador (a diocese of the province of the Anglican Church in Central America) claims 6,000 members in 18 congregations.{{cite web|title=Iglesia Anglicana de El Salvador|url=http://www.elsalvador.anglican.org/|access-date=26 April 2015}} The Baptist Association of El Salvador claims 4,427 members{{cite web|title=Baptist Association of El Salvador|date=January 1991 |url=https://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/baptist-association-of-el-salvador|publisher=World Council of Churches|access-date=26 April 2015}} and the Salvadorean Lutheran Synod about 15,000 in 68 congregations.{{cite web|title=Salvadorean Lutheran Synod|date=January 1991 |url=https://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/salvadorean-lutheran-synod|publisher=World Council of Churches|access-date=26 April 2015}}

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a Restorationist Christian denomination, claims 130,000 people in 164 congregations as of 2023),{{cite web |title=El Salvador |url=https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/facts-and-statistics/country/el-salvador |access-date=28 November 2023 |website=Newsroom |publisher=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints}} or about 2% of the population, and has 1 temple in San Salvador. Latter-Day Saints began evangelizing in El Salvador in 1951.

The constitution of El Salvador provides for the freedom of religion and prohibits religious discrimination. Publicly offending others' religious beliefs or damaging religious objects is punishable by imprisonment. Members of the clergy may not hold senior government positions, and are forbidden from joining political parties.{{cite web | url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/el-salvador/ | title=El Salvador 2022 report, US State Dept }}

Religious groups may register with the government for the purposes of tax-exemption and acquiring building permits. Special visas are required for individuals who wish to travel to El Salvador to engage in proselytizing.{{cite web | url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/el-salvador/ | title=El Salvador 2022 report, US State Dept }}

Public school education is secular. Private schools may include religious content in their curricula, but do not receive government support. Since 2016, clergy have limited access to prisons, due to concerns that some members of the clergy were using prison visits to smuggle items into prisons.[https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/religiousfreedom/index.htm?year=2017&dlid=281072 International Religious Freedom Report 2017 El Salvador], US State Department, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.

In 2023, the country was scored 3 out of 4 for religious freedom by Freedom House, a US government funded think tank.[https://freedomhouse.org/country/el-salvador/freedom-world/2022 Freedom House, retrieved 2023-08-03]

• Demographics of El Salvador
• Catholic Church in El Salvador
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in El Salvador
• Islam in El Salvador
• Judaism in El Salvador

{{reflist}}

• [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/el-salvador/ CIA.gov]

• Stephen Offutt, New Centers of Global Evangelicalism in Latin America and Africa (Cambridge University Press, 2015) focuses on El Salvador and South Africa. [http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=44144 online review]

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{{North America topic|Religion in}}