Back المسيحية في المغرب Arabic المسيحيه فى المغرب ARZ Christentum in Marokko German Kristinusko Marokossa Finnish Christianisme au Maroc French Kršćanstvo u Maroku Croatian Cristianesimo in Marocco Italian Kristian di Maghribi Malay Христианство в Марокко Russian 摩洛哥基督教 Chinese

Christianity in Morocco

Cathedral of Rabat

Christians in Morocco constitute less than 1%[1][2] of the country's population of 33,600,000 (2014 census). Most of the Christian adherents are Catholic and Protestants.

Christianity in Morocco appeared during the Roman times, when it was practiced by Christian Berbers in Roman Mauretania Tingitana, although it started to decline after the Islamic conquests in the 7th century.[3] Indigenous Christianity in North Africa effectively continued after the Muslim conquest until the early 15th century.[4][5]

During the French and Spanish protectorates, Morocco had significant populations of European Catholic settlers; on the eve of independence, an estimated 470,000 Catholics resided in Morocco.[6] Since independence in 1956, the European Christian population has decreased substantially, and many Christians left to France or Spain. Prior to independence, the European Catholic settlers had historic legacy and powerful presence.[6] Independence prompted a mass exodus of the European Christian settlers; after series of events over 1959-1960 more than 75% of Christian settlers left the country.[6]

In 2022, the U.S. State Department estimated the current number of Moroccan Christians as more than 40,000.[7] Pew-Templeton estimates the number of Moroccan Christians at 20,000.[8] The number of the Moroccans who converted to Christianity (most of them secret worshippers) are estimated between 8,000[9]–50,000.[10][11] Since 1960 a growing number of Moroccan Muslims are converting to Christianity.[12][13][14][15][16]

  1. ^ US State Dept 2022 report
  2. ^ "The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency". www.cia.gov.
  3. ^ Asiwaju, A.I. (January 1985). Partitioned Africans: Ethnic Relations Across Africa's International Boundaries. C. Hurst & Co. p. 237. ISBN 0-905838-91-2.
  4. ^ Ancient African Christianity: An Introduction to a Unique Context and Tradition By David E. Wilhite, page 322
  5. ^ "Office of the President – Bethel University". Archived from the original on 2 February 2007.
  6. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Decolonization was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ International Religious Freedom Report 2022 - US Department of State
  8. ^ Pew Templeton, 2013
  9. ^ "Christian Converts in Morocco Fear Fatwa Calling for Their Execution".
  10. ^ "'House-Churches' and Silent Masses - The Converted Christians of Morocco Are Praying in Secret - VICE News".
  11. ^ "Christians want marriages recognized in Morocco". reuters. 8 June 2018.
  12. ^ Carnes, Nat (2012). Al-Maghred, the Barbary Lion: A Look at Islam. University of Cambridge Press. p. 253. ISBN 9781475903423. . In all an estimated 40,000 Moroccans have converted to Christianity
  13. ^ "'House-Churches' and Silent Masses - The Converted Christians of Morocco Are Praying in Secret - VICE News". 23 March 2015. Converted Moroccans - most of them secret worshippers, of whom there are estimated to be anywhere between 5,000 and 40,000 -
  14. ^ "Morocco's 'hidden' Christians to push for religious freedom". AfricanNews. 30 January 2017. There are no official statistics, but leaders say there are about 50,000 Moroccan Christians, most of them from the Protestant Evangelical tradition.
  15. ^ "Morocco 2019 International Religious Freedom Report" (PDF). RELIGIOUS FREEDOM REPORT. 30 January 2019. the Moroccan Association of Human Rights estimates there are 25,000 Christian citizens. One media source reported that while most Christians in the country are foreigners, there are an estimated 8,000 Christian citizens and that "several thousand" citizens have converted, mostly to Protestant churches..
  16. ^ "Morocco's Christian converts emerge from the shadows". Time of Israel. 30 April 2017. Converts to Christianity form a tiny minority of Moroccans. While no official statistics exist, the US State Department estimates their numbers at between 2,000 and 6,000.

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