Source/Credit:MaltaStar
The International religious Freedom Report compiled by the US State Department says that there are at least 30 religions practiced in the Maltese Islands.
Quoting 2004 estimates it says that 95 percent of the population are Roman Catholic and that a survey carried out six years ago found that 53 percent of Catholics attend Sunday services regularly.
Most of those who attend the local Protestant churches are “British retirees who live in the country or vacationers from other countries.”
The report then lists a number of different churches: Coptic and Greek Orthodox Christians, the Bible Baptist Church, a union of 16 groups of evangelical churches comprising Pentecostal and other nondenominational churches, as well as Jehovah’s Witnesses, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), Seventh-day Adventists, Zen Buddhists, and Baha’is are also present.
It is estimated that there are 6,000 Muslims, in Malta and Gozo, of whom 5,250 are foreigners, while 600 are naturalized citizens, and 150 are native-born citizens. There is one mosque (and two informal mosques) and a Muslim primary school.
The report says that there is a Jewish congregation with an estimated 100 members.
Referring to the 4,500 irregular migrants resident in the country, the report says that around two-thirds of whom are Muslim (included in the 6,000 total previously mentioned). The rest of the migrants belong to various Protestant denominations, Catholicism, Coptic Christianity, indigenous African forms of worship, or are nonreligious.
Categories: Malta
It seems the religious plurality mentioned here is recently established with immigrants influx and we hope it builds an example of tolerance and harmony in Maltese society!