Religion in Trinidad and Tobago
Encyclopedia
Trinidad and Tobago
is a multi-religious nation
. The largest religious groups are the Roman Catholics
and Hindus
; the Anglicans, Muslims
, Presbyterians, Methodist are among the smaller faiths. Two Afro-Caribbean syncretic faiths, the Shouter or Spiritual Baptist
s and the Orisha
faith (formerly called Shango
s, a less than complimentary term) are among the fastest growing religious groups
. The fastest growing groups are a host of American-style evangelical
and fundamentalist churches usually lumped as "Pentecostal" by most Trinidadians (although this designation is often inaccurate). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has also expanded its presence in the country since the mid-1980s.
According to the 2000 Census, 29.6% of the population was Roman Catholic, 34.3% Protestant (including 8.9% Anglican, 7.8% Pentecostal, 4.5% Seventh-day Adventist, 3.8% Presbyterian or Congregational, 8.2% Baptist, and 1.1% Methodist), 25.6% Hindu, and 6.6% Muslim. A small number of individuals subscribed to traditional Caribbean religions with African roots, such as the Spiritual Baptists (sometimes called Shouter Baptists); and the Orisha, 0.1 percent. The smaller groups were Jehovah's Witnesses (1.8 percent) and unaffiliated (2.2 percent). There is also a small, but active, Jewish community on the island.
Christian
Hindu
Muslim
420,750 to religious groups.
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
is a multi-religious nation
Nation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...
. The largest religious groups are the Roman Catholics
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
and Hindus
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
; the Anglicans, Muslims
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, Presbyterians, Methodist are among the smaller faiths. Two Afro-Caribbean syncretic faiths, the Shouter or Spiritual Baptist
Spiritual Baptist
The Spiritual Baptists faith is an Afro-Caribbean syncretic religion which combines elements of traditional West African religions with Christianity. The Spiritual Baptist faith originated in St. Vincent....
s and the Orisha
Orisha
An Orisha is a spirit or deity that reflects one of the manifestations of Olodumare in the Yoruba spiritual or religious system....
faith (formerly called Shango
Shango
In the Yorùbá religion, Sàngó is perhaps one of the most popular Orisha; also known as the god of fire, lightning and thunder...
s, a less than complimentary term) are among the fastest growing religious groups
Claims to be the fastest growing religion
Most increase in the population of any religious denomination is simply due to births. Still, the world's largest religions that are showing increases that outrun birth-rate include Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism....
. The fastest growing groups are a host of American-style evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
and fundamentalist churches usually lumped as "Pentecostal" by most Trinidadians (although this designation is often inaccurate). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has also expanded its presence in the country since the mid-1980s.
According to the 2000 Census, 29.6% of the population was Roman Catholic, 34.3% Protestant (including 8.9% Anglican, 7.8% Pentecostal, 4.5% Seventh-day Adventist, 3.8% Presbyterian or Congregational, 8.2% Baptist, and 1.1% Methodist), 25.6% Hindu, and 6.6% Muslim. A small number of individuals subscribed to traditional Caribbean religions with African roots, such as the Spiritual Baptists (sometimes called Shouter Baptists); and the Orisha, 0.1 percent. The smaller groups were Jehovah's Witnesses (1.8 percent) and unaffiliated (2.2 percent). There is also a small, but active, Jewish community on the island.
ChristianChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
denominations
- Roman Catholic Church (see Roman Catholicism in Trinidad and TobagoRoman Catholicism in Trinidad and TobagoThe Roman Catholic Church in Trinidad and Tobago is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and curia in Rome. The apostolic nuncio to Trinidad and Tobago is American archbishop Thomas Edward Gullickson, who is also the apostolic nuncio to most other...
) - Anglican Church of Trinidad and Tobago
- Presbyterian Church of Trinidad and Tobago
- Methodist Church of Trinidad and Tobago
- New Testament Church of God.
- Church of God of Prophecy
- Open Bible Standard Churches
- Pentecostal Assemblies of the West Indies
- South Caribbean Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist ChurchSeventh-day Adventist ChurchThe Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
- Moravian Church of Trinidad and Tobago
- Church of the Nazarene
- Church of GodChurch of GodChurch of God is a name used by numerous, mostly unrelated Christian denominational bodies, most of which descend from either Pentecostal/Holiness or Adventist traditions.-Pentecostal Movement:*Church of God...
- Ethiopian Orthodox Church
- Stewards Christian Bretheren
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons)
- Association of Jehovah's Witnesses
Afro-Caribbean syncretic groups
- Spiritual BaptistSpiritual BaptistThe Spiritual Baptists faith is an Afro-Caribbean syncretic religion which combines elements of traditional West African religions with Christianity. The Spiritual Baptist faith originated in St. Vincent....
- Independent Baptist
- National Evangelical Spiritual Baptist
- West Indies Spiritual Sacred Order
- Baptist (Orthodox)
- Orisha
- Rastafari movementRastafari movementThe Rastafari movement or Rasta is a new religious movement that arose in the 1930s in Jamaica, which at the time was a country with a predominantly Christian culture where 98% of the people were the black descendants of slaves. Its adherents worship Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia , as God...
- Nation of IslamNation of IslamThe Nation of Islam is a mainly African-American new religious movement founded in Detroit, Michigan by Wallace D. Fard Muhammad in July 1930 to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African-Americans in the United States of America. The movement teaches black pride and...
HinduHinduHindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
groups
- See also: Hinduism in the West IndiesHinduism in the West IndiesHinduism is the leading single religion of the Indo-Caribbean communities of the West Indies. Hindus are particularly well represented in Trinidad and Tobago, where they constituted 25 percent of the total population, as of 1995...
- Sanatan Dharma Maha SabhaSanatan Dharma Maha SabhaThe Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha is the major Hindu organisation in Trinidad and Tobago. It operates 150 mandirs and over 50 schools. It was formed in 1952 when Bhadase Sagan Maraj engineered the merger of the Satanan Dharma Association and the Sanatan Dharma Board of Control. An affiliated group,...
- Vishwa Hindu Parishad
- Kabir Panth Association
- Arya Pratinidhi Sabha
- Shiva Dharma Sabha
- Divine Life SocietyDivine Life SocietyThe Divine Life Society is a religious organization and an ashram, founded by Swami Sivananda Saraswati in 1936, at Muni Ki Reti, Rishikesh, India...
- International Society for Krishna ConsciousnessInternational Society for Krishna ConsciousnessThe International Society for Krishna Consciousness , known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava religious organization. It was founded in 1966 in New York City by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada...
- SWAHA
- Hindu Festivals Society of Trinidad and Tobago
MuslimMuslimA Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
groups
- Anjuman Sunnat-ul-Jamaat AssociationAnjuman Sunnat-ul-Jamaat AssociationThe Anjuman Sunnat-ul-Jamaat Association was founded in 1936. It is the largest and most influential Muslim organisation of Trinidad and Tobago. Its president is Imam Yacoob Ali. As of 1987, it operated seven schools in Trinidad and Tobago....
- Tackveeyatul Islamic Association
- Trinidad Muslim League
- United Islamic Organisation of Trinidad and TobagoUnited Islamic Organisation of Trinidad and TobagoThe United Islamic Organisation of Trinidad and Tobago is an umbrella organization designed to promote and facilitate harmony and co-operation among the smaller Muslim associations in Trinidad and Tobago. These organizations had applied for membership in the Muslim Co-ordinating Council of...
- Jamaat al MuslimeenJamaat al MuslimeenThe Jamaat al Muslimeen is a Muslim organisation within the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago with a membership of predominantly Afro-Trinidadians....
- Nation of IslamNation of IslamThe Nation of Islam is a mainly African-American new religious movement founded in Detroit, Michigan by Wallace D. Fard Muhammad in July 1930 to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African-Americans in the United States of America. The movement teaches black pride and...
- TriniMuslims - Gathering of Ahlus Sunnah wal-Jamaa%27h (Sunni / SalafiSalafiA Salafi come from Sunni Islam is a follower of an Islamic movement, Salafiyyah, that is supposed to take the Salaf who lived during the patristic period of early Islam as model examples...
) Muslims - see also Islam in Trinidad and TobagoIslam in Trinidad and TobagoMuslims constitute 6 percent of the population on Trinidad and Tobago, representing 65,318 individuals. The majority live in Trinidad but there are a handful in Tobago as well. The first Muslims to arrive in the country arrived from Africa brought as slaves by the colonists...
Jewish groups
- http://www.luxner.com/cgi-bin/view_article.cgi?articleID=1599 Trinidad once had a flourishing Jewish community, but the numbers have dwindled down to approximately 55 to 100 persons. The community is largely religiously unaffiliated and consists of many prominent Trinidadians.
Baha'i Faith
- The Baha'is of Trinidad and Tobago - official web site of the Trinidad and Tobago Baha'i community
Government subventions
The Government of Trinidad and Tobago provides substantial subventions to religious groups. In 2003 http://www.ttparliament.org/hansard/house/2003/hh20030509.pdf the government provided TT$Trinidad and Tobago dollar
The dollar is the currency of Trinidad and Tobago. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively TT$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies. It is subdivided into 100 cents...
420,750 to religious groups.