Religion in Ghana

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The religion in Ghana essentially comprises Christianity , Islam and traditional African religions .

Ghanaian religiosity

In Ghana , the majority are said to be followers of a Christian faith. Between almost 60 and over 70 percent of Ghanaians are said to be among the Christians , among whom there are also many African churches . Around 22 percent of people believe in traditional religions , at least 18 percent are Muslims . According to other sources, 30 percent of the population are Muslims and Christians, while 40% follow traditional religions.

The boundaries between the different religions are not as sharply separated as we know it from other parts of the world. The main Christian currents and sects as well as Islam mix with traditional beliefs. Many Christian or Muslim Ghanaians see no contradiction to their religion in a visit to a “ fetish priest ”. All major Christian holidays have become national holidays. Even Ramadan , the Islamic fasting month is celebrated distributed all over the country. Individual ethnic groups also celebrate the festivals that correspond to their traditional religion. The population of the northern part of the country is Muslim, the south is more Christian.

statistics

In its first edition of the Fischer Weltalmanach for 1960 a Christian share of only 12.2% (400,000 Catholics and 200,000 Protestants of 4.91 million inhabitants). Even if the number of Catholics had risen to 600,000 in 1966 and the number of Protestants to 300,000, their share of the now 7.34 million inhabitants was initially only 12.3% and for 1969 only 17.2% ( 700,000 Catholics and Protestants out of 8,143,000 inhabitants) compared to 25% Muslims.

According to the Federal Foreign Office, the population is currently distributed as follows: In Ghana approx. 46% belong to Protestant churches ( Presbyterians , Methodists , Baptists , charismatic movements, Seventh-day Adventists ), the Catholic Church (13%), Islam (18th %) and approx. 5% follow traditional religions. The Fischer World Almanac editions 2011 to 2015, however, indicated 20% Protestants (Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists and charismatic movements), 10% Catholics, 30% Muslims and 40% followers of indigenous religions.

Christianity

The Anglican Holy Trinity Cathedral in Accra, Ghana
the Wesleyian (Methodist) Church in Kumasi, Ghana in March 2008

As early as the fifteenth century, missionaries laid the foundation for Christianity in West Africa, which spread from the coast into the interior. In 1495 the first native West Africans in Lisbon received the ordinate for the Christian mission in Guinea. In what is now Ghana, Christian proselytizing efforts soon showed their first, albeit not lasting, success when Sasaxy, King of Fetu, was baptized on the Santiago Hill near Elmina on July 24, 1503 . He was given the baptismal name Dom João. The king's baptism is carried out by his son, Dom Manuel, who has already been baptized, and six other chiefs of his kingdom. On the following day, July 25, 1503, a large crowd was baptized in the “Santyago d'Afuto” chapel, which had been set up in the market square of the capital, Fetu. The construction of the Church of St. John of Afutu also began that day.

Most of the missionary work , however, was done in the nineteenth century by Presbyterian or Methodist missionaries. The Christian faith spread particularly through the establishment of schools. To this day, Christian schools are an important part of the state education system.

Regarding the distribution of the individual Christian denominations in the country, there are regional differences. The Methodist Church has many followers among the Fante , along the coast. The Presbyterians have their focus in the coastal region and in the Akwapim-Togo chain . The Catholic Church is particularly represented in the Central Region and the Ashanti Region . More Protestants live in the Volta region .

As early as 1929, a Christian umbrella organization was founded in what was then the Gold Coast, the Ghanaian Council of Christians (later renamed: Ghana Christian Council , today: Christian Council of Ghana ). Through this umbrella organization, the churches in Ghana are connected to the world council of churches .

Today (2005) 16 churches and two affiliated organizations are members of the Christian Council of Ghana

The Anglican Communion in Ghana is an offshoot of the "Church of the Province of West Africa", which consists of 13 dioceses, nine of which exist on the territory of Ghana. There is also a so-called mission area. The Anglican Church in Ghana is under the leadership of the Archbishop of the Province of West Africa and Bishop of Koforidua and Ho . Other Anglican bishops in Ghana are those of Accra, Cape Coast, Kumasi, Sekondi, Sunyani and Tamale.
There are four archdioceses and 14 dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church in Ghana. Seat of the Archbishops: Accra, Kumasi, Cape Coast and Tamale. The Roman Catholic Church of Ghana is represented by the Catholic Bishops' Conference founded in 1960 , whose president today (2005) is the Archbishop of Cape Coast. Members: 2,684,751 (2003) = 12.5% ​​of the total population of Ghana
Seat of the President: Kumasi; 65,000 members (2003)
Seat of the President: Kaneshie; 26,000 members (2003)
founded in Ghana 1957; Moderator's seat: Accra; 4,800 members (1997)
approx. 1,800 members (2002)
founded in Ghana in 1898; Seat of the President: Sekondi; 85,450 members (2002)
Seat of the President: Accra; approx. 1,700 members (2002)
Seat of the President: Accra; Members: approx. 341,000 (1997); approx. 1,000,000 (2002)
Members (2009): 564,374; Municipalities: 3,274.
Moderator's seat: Accra; approx. 295,000 members (1997)
Moderator's seat: Accra; approx. 422,500 members (1997)
Seat of the chairman: Accra; 1,021,856 members (July 2002)
  • founded in Ghana 1943; Seat of the President: Accra; approx. 318,000 members (2007)

Affiliated to the Christian Council of Ghana :

Other Christian organizations in Ghana outside the Christian Council of Ghana :

Active Members (2010): 98,212; Municipalities: 1,397

Islam

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Front view of the Larabanga Mosque

The spread of Islam in West Africa took place around the 9th century and was less due to planned missionary work. Rather, traders from North and East Africa came to West Africa in search of gold, ivory, slaves and kola nuts. Gradually, the people living in the northern area of ​​what is now Ghana at that time adopted their faith. The great empires of Mali and Songhai were Islamized early on and passed the new faith on to their neighbors. Islam probably arrived in northern Ghana in the fifteenth century, from there it spread to the Gulf of Guinea .

Islam occurs in its Sunni orientation, which means that most of Ghana's Muslims follow the guidelines of the Maliki school of law . There are other currents, but they are rare. Islamic fundamentalism, as it has spread in the Middle East and as far as Nigeria, does not exist in the country, as all religions coexist peacefully here. Most of the Ghanaian Muslims live in the north of the country.

Representative bodies of the Islamic believers in Ghana are the Coalition of Muslim Organizations and the Ghana Muslim Representative Council . Supreme Imam of all Islamic believers in Ghana:

The oldest mosque in Ghana is located in Larabanga , twelve kilometers north of Damongo and about five kilometers from Mole National Park . The architectural style of this mosque is Western Sudanese.

Traditional religions

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Guardian of a traditional shrine in Northern Ghana

Pure forms of traditional religions have survived to this day, but mixed forms of Christianity or Islam with elements of traditional religions ( syncretism ) are also common. In the traditional religions there is usually a supreme being who is too much respected because of its power to be suitable for everyday worship. Rather, smaller, often very localized deities are worshiped in order to function as mediators between humans and the highest being.

In addition to the gods, ancestors and spirits naturally belong to religion and are respected and venerated. For Ghanaians, their spiritual world is in many ways related to the real world. For example, an angry god can cause disease, drought, or even death. The ancestors are often asked for their assistance and are supposed to bring wealth. The ancestors are considered the closest connection with the spiritual world and therefore have a special role for believing people. Traditional belief also assigns the ancestors the role of supervisor and guide.

The role of the tribal chieftains and chiefs in the state, the role of the priests in society, as well as the role of the family elders as advisers and head of the family build on the ideas of traditional religions. The traditional religion often includes offerings that are performed as animal sacrifices or also as flower or food sacrifices. The traditional gods are considered jealous, so a balance is regularly attempted between them. If a sacrifice is made to one of them, one hurries to give the other gods their share as well.

Believers cannot take their faith everywhere with them or practice it, as the local gods are often tied to the place of their worship. Hence, it happens that followers of traditional religions have to go back to their hometown on a regular basis to practice their beliefs. In this way, the ties within the original religious community, which is often also the village community, are preserved for a long time even further afield.

The chiefs (tribal chiefs) and heads of families often exercise high cult acts, but there are also priests who are ascribed to a god or a shrine and through whom the venerated deity often speaks in a trance. The priests are also the point of contact in questions of traditional medicine and therefore take on a variety of management functions.

The traditional religions have their followers especially in rural areas. As the level of education and prosperity increases, the following among the traditional religions decreases sharply, but in times of crisis many Ghanaians seek the assistance of traditional healers or priests.

Other religions

Moreover, which is National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is recognized as a religious community.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Country information from the Federal Foreign Office on Ghana
  2. ↑ a b Christin Löchel: Der neue Fischer Weltalmanach 2019 , page 180. Fischer Taschenbug Verlag, Frankfurt (Main) 2018
  3. ↑ a b Eva Berié: The fisherman world almanac . Frankfurt 2014, p. 171. Fischer Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt (Main) 2013
  4. ↑ The Spiegel yearbook, which was last published in 2005, stated 38% followers of traditional religions, 30% Muslims and only 24% Christians.
  5. ^ Gustav Fochler-Hauke: Der Fischer Weltalmanach 1960. Frankfurt 1959, p. 82.
  6. ^ Gustav Fochler-Hauke: Der Fischer Weltalmanach 1966. Frankfurt 1965, p. 69.
  7. ^ Gustav Fochler-Hauke: Der Fischer Weltalmanach 1969. Frankfurt 1968, p. 71.
  8. ↑ Members of the Ghanaian Council of Christians (English)
  9. ↑ Africa South of the Sahara (London) 35 (2006) 537f.
  10. ↑ Linda Greene: World Methodist Council. Handbook of Information 2002-2006. Biltmore Press, Asheville (NC) 2002, p. 250.
  11. ↑ http://cms.nak-sued.de/Ghana-Informationen.24707.0.html
  12. ↑ http://www.adventistarchives.org/docs/YB/YB2007.pdf Adventist Yearbook, p. 420
  13. ^ Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses 2010