Honduras
Religious beliefs in Honduras
Although the Constitution of Honduras provides for religious freedom and freedom of worship, the country has Roman Catholicism as its dominant national religion. More than 80% of the population are Roman Catholics with only a small percentage belonging to the minority Protestant religion and other small religions. Despite a Constitutional provision for church and state, the government and the Catholic church maintain a relationship especially on matters of consultation, occasional appointments of church leaders to quasi-official commissions on key issues of national concern, and registration of local churches and foreign missionaries. The Catholic church is made up of dioceses located in Tegucigalpa, Comayagua, Choluteca, Olancho, Yoro, San Pedro Sula, Trujillo and Copan. It also maintains religious schools that receive government subsidies but not special treatment from the government. These schools provide professional training such as the seminaries, or general education such as those offered by parochial schools which are not limited to the church. The Protestant church, on the other hand, is structured in three religious alliances of the Shepherds Association of Honduras, Evangelical Brotherhood of Honduras, and the Apostolic Network of Honduras. Some of its prominent churches are the Abundant Life Church, Living Love Church, and the Grand Commission church.
The other minor religions in the country are Judaism, Greek Orthodox, Episcopalian, Lutheran, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mennonite, Church of Christ of the Latter-Day Saints, Union Church, Muslims and Jews that have small numbers but are able to maintain a mosque and a synagogue in San Pedro Sula and the country’s biggest city Tegucigalpa.
