Religion in Colombia

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See also: Status of religious freedom in Colombia, Christianity in Colombia, Protestants in Colombia, Roman Catholicism in Colombia, and Islam in Colombia

The Religion in Colombia is an expression of the different cultural heritages in the Colombian culture including the Spanish colonisation, the Native Amerindian and the Afro-Colombian.

[edit] Precolumbian period

Main article: Muisca mythology

[edit] Religious freedom

The Colombian Constitution of 1991 abolished the previous condition of the Roman Catholic Church as state church, and it includes two articles providing for freedom of worship:

Art. 13: States that "all people are legally born free and equal" and that they will not be discriminated on the basis of "sex, race, national or familial origin, language, religion, politic or philosophical opinion".
Art. 19: Which expressly guarantees freedom of religion. "Freedom of religion is guaranteed. Every individual has the right to freely profess his/her religion and to disseminate it individually or collectively. All religious faiths and churches are equally free before the law.

[edit] Catholicism in Colombia

Las Lajas Cathedral in Nariño.

Catholicism was the official religion of the country since the Spanish colonization until the 1991 constitutional reform (National Constituent Assembly), which granted equalitarian treatment from the government to all the religions. However, Catholicism is still the main religion in Colombia by number of adepts, with an estimated of 75% of the national population in nominal Catholicism, from which about 25% are practicing catholics.

In the colonial period, the Catholic Church created and was in charge of most of the public institutions, such as teaching facilities (schools, colleges, universities, libraries, botanical gardens, astronomic observatories); health facilities (Hospitals, nurseries, leper hospitals) and jails. It also "inherited" a huge amount of land, aprox. 1/4th of all the productive land, which was later expropiated by a liberal government.

Colombia is often referred as the Country of the Sacred Heart, due to the annual consecration of the country to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in a Te Deum directed by the President of the republic. Colombia has been re-consagrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and consacrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 2008, in a country-wide ceremony celebrated by the main Bishops and with the presence of the Colombian President (also a Catholic).

Some criticism against the Catholic Church included alleged negligence in the management of priests accused of acts pedophilia, which were never really as evident as in other countries but sometimes were treated with counseling and transferring the offender to a different parish without direct legal action. Also the involvement in political issues have been controversial, like in the bipartisan violence period (La Violencia) when the media and some dissident priests such as Fidel Blandon denounced that the Catholic Church for what they saw as an encouragement of the people to take violent actions against politically liberal opponents.

The Catholic Church, however is nowadays still the only recognized mediator in peace talks between ultra-left violent groups and the liberal government.

[edit] Other religious affiliations

Although the Government does not keep official statistics on religious affiliation, a 2001 poll commissioned by the country's leading newspaper, El Tiempo, indicated that the religious demography is as follows:

Bogotá Latter-Day Saints Temple

81% Roman Catholic.
10% Non-evangelical Christians
3.5% Evangelical Christians
1.9% No religious beliefs
3.6% Other faiths:
- Seventh-day Adventist Church: about 180.000 members
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: about 130.000 members
- Jehovah's Witnesses: about 120.000 members.
- Judaism: between 5.000 and 10.000 members.
- Islam: figures unknown, probably below 2.000.

Currently, there seem to be no social controversy or problem arising from religious conflict. Freedom of religion is enforced by the State and well tolerated in the Colombian culture. Almost all cities and towns in Colombia have a church, but there are also temples, mosques and synagogues, especially in the largest cities.

A Colombian-grown Taoist movement has spread significantly in recent years. In the 2000s temples and congregations were target of a paramilitary repression which motivations are still unclear.^[1] Entire Taoist communities were massacred and leaders kidnapped.^[2] In 2008 Taoist communities organised and participated to various peaceful protests in many cities of Colombia.^[3]

[edit] Syncretism in Colombia

Some syncretic religious figures in the country are: The healing ghost of José Gregorio Hernández, the Purgatory souls (Animas del Purgatorio), the Lonely Soul (Anima Sola), the Powerful hand, the Black Christ of Buga, Valle del Cauca, the 20th July Baby Jesus (Divine Infant Jesus), Father Marianito (beatified Mariano de Jesus Euse Hoyos 1845-1926)^[4], the fertility rites of St Isidro and local variations of syncretism from other countries, such as Santeria and Maria Lionza cult.^[5]

[edit] Gallery

The Black Christ Icon in the Basilica of Señor de los Milagros (Buga, Valle del Cauca) is visited by thousands of people every week	Colombia is known as the country of the Sacred Heart	Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá (16th century). Virgin de Chiquinquirá is the patroness saint of Colombia. Chiquinquirá is a major point of religious pilgrimage	Virgin of Rosary in las Lajas Cathedral
Pilgrims visit Monserrate and the "Saint Christ Fallen by the whips and nailed into the Cross" Icon in Bogotá	The Anima Sola (lonely soul) often interpreted as a soul in purgatory	Virgin of Regla is the syncretic form of Yemaja