Religion in South Sudan

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Christianity has a long history in the region that is now South Sudan. Ancient Nubia was reached by Coptic Christianity by the 1st century,{{Citation needed|date=February 2025|reason=Used to say 2nd century}} and Christian missionary activity from neighbouring Ethiopia consolidated that community. In 1920, the Protestant Church 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 are Catholic and Anglican, though other denominations were also active, and traditional African religions' beliefs were often blended with Christian beliefs.Christianity, in [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/sdtoc.html#sd0065 A Country Study: Sudan], U.S. Library of Congress.[http://www.sabcnews.com/portal/site/SABCNews/menuitem.5c4f8fe7ee929f602ea12ea1674daeb9/?vgnextoid=72dc4ff98fdd3210VgnVCM10000077d4ea9bRCRD&vgnextfmt=default "More than 100 dead in South Sudan attack-officials"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628225905/http://www.sabcnews.com/portal/site/SABCNews/menuitem.5c4f8fe7ee929f602ea12ea1674daeb9/?vgnextoid=72dc4ff98fdd3210VgnVCM10000077d4ea9bRCRD&vgnextfmt=default |date=28 June 2011 }} SABC News 21 September 2009 Retrieved 5 April 2011Hurd, Emma [http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/South-Sudan-Vote-Result-Overwhelming-Support-For-Indepence-From-North/Article/201102115925377?lid=ARTICLE_15925377_SouthSudanVoteResultOverwhelmingSupportFordepenceFromNorth&lpos=searchresults "Southern Sudan Votes To Split From North"] Sky News 8 February 2011 Retrieved 5 April 2011

The Anglican and Catholic churches both claimed large membership; the Anglican Communion claimed 2 million members in 2005 in the Episcopal Church of the Sudan.[http://www.fwepiscopal.org/downloads/howmanyanglicans.pdf "How many Anglicans are there in the Anglican Church in North America?"] The third largest denomination was the Presbyterian Church in Sudan.{{cite web |url=http://www.apwm.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/South-Sudan.pdf |title=South Sudan |date=2013 |website=www.apwm.org.au |language=en |access-date=23 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002172242/http://www.apwm.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/South-Sudan.pdf |archive-date=2 October 2013}}

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;[https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/south-sudan US State Dept 2022 report] however, the country’s population displacement made it difficult to collect accurate details.

In 2022 the new Catholic bishop of Rumbek, 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."{{Cite web |last=ACN |date=2022-04-04 |title=New bishop in South Sudan: "We must get back on our feet and give hope to the people" |url=https://acninternational.org/new-bishop-in-south-sudan-attacked/ |access-date=2022-11-15 |website=ACN International |language=en-US}}

Since its independence in 2011, South Sudan has been frequently visited by global religious leaders. Franklin Graham led the Hope for A New Nation Festival in Juba in 2012, gathering 95,000 attendees.Sébastien Fath, "[https://www.cairn-int.info/journal-afrique-contemporaine1-2014-4-page-27.htm Franklin Graham's Crusade in South Sudan", Afrique Contemporaine, vol 252, issue 4, 2014], p.27 to 49 On 12 November 2019, evangelist T. B. Joshua from Nigeria addressed the South Sudanese nation at the Presidential Palace in Juba in the presence of President Salva Kiir Mayardit. "Prophet TB Joshua's Presidential Visit to South Sudan" (Nov 2019)" From 2-4 February 2023, Justin Welby (Anglican Communion), Pope Francis (Catholic Church), and Iain Greenshields (Church of Scotland Moderator) visited South Sudan through a three-day "pilgrimage of peace to the world's newest nation".Sarah Fowler, [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-64524102 "Pope in South Sudan tells clergy to raise voices against injustice", BBC, 4th of Feb, 2023]

• Catholicism in South Sudan
• Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan
• Islam in South Sudan

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• {{Cite book|last1=Grillmeier|first1=Aloys|author-link1=Aloys Grillmeier|last2=Hainthaler|first2=Theresia|title=Christ in Christian Tradition: The Church of Alexandria with Nubia and Ethiopia after 451|volume=2/4|year=1996|location=Louisville|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|isbn=9780664223007|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-Hw28f8aCnoC}}

{{South Sudan topics}}

{{Christianity in South Sudan}}

{{Africa religion}}