Religious Beliefs and Spirituality in Nicaragua

Along with most of Latin America during the 1500s, Nicaragua was claimed by the Spanish conquistadores as a territory of the once glorious Spanish empire. With a mission to spread Christianity to wherever they set foot, Catholicism was forced upon the native Nicaraguans of that time. Being under Spanish rule for 300 years, the Catholic faith was indeed implanted so deep to the core of Nicaraguan society as 58.5% of present-day Nicaraguans are practicing Catholics. At present, citizens of Nicaragua are free to choose whatever religion they may follow as religious freedom is in their constitution ever since 1939 but Roman Catholicism clearly dominates this part of South America. What is remarkable about Nicaraguans with regards to religion is that conversion to other religions was very minimal up until 1960s where Protestants and other Christian denominations have considerably gained following especially in the rural areas and accounts now for 21.6% of the total population.

The Evangelical Church in Nicaragua did not, however, sprung out of nowhere. The Mosquito Coast of present-day Nicaragua was a British protectorate and was only ceded to Nicaragua in 1860. Although missionaries tried to Catholicized this region, it was already too late as the religion passed on by the British was already deeply ingrained on the natives.

One other notable religion found in Nicaragua is the Moravian Church which also came from the Caribbean coast. Because most natives adhere to the Moravian doctrine, it is sometimes called the Creole religion. However, because Nicaragua is dominated by Mestizos, Moravian adherents account about only 1.7% of the population.

Other religions like Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventists, Mormons, and Islam do have presence in Nicaragua but each don’t account to no more than 1% of the country’s population.