Catholic and Protestant churches have been active in Mozambique since the late 19th century, and Islam was established in Mozambique long before then. From the start of the 1940s to the beginning of 1974,the south of the country was largely Protestant; the centre held traditional beliefs and the north was essentially Muslim. There was a significant Catholic presence in all of the regions (Jessen 1997).
One of the noticeable influences of Islam (which is ubiquitous in the northern coastal areas, particularly Cabo Delgado, Nampula and Zambezia) was the instruction of traditional chiefs to read and write. Also, Islam did not condemn initiation rites which is one reason why these practices are so common in the north. Christianity was more prevalent in the south, and considered these rites to be immoral (Arnfred 1990).
In the colonial period, the Protestant churches published magazines and small newspapers in local languages to inform people about the social and political situation in the country and encourage them to study at secondary level (which was not permitted by the colonial regime). With the introduction of a new state in the 1930s, Mozambique's status was changed from a colony to a province, Ultramar. The Catholic church was given the task of teaching Portuguese to Mozambicans. The aim of basic primary education was to "civilize the natives" by teaching them the language and customs of the Portuguese. This caused conflicts between the state and the Protestant churches.
After Independence, the new Marxist-Leninist government declared itself to be secular. The constitution permitted religious freedom and equal rights for all legally accepted churches2. There was tension between the churches and the state in the years following Independence. The most serious conflict was caused when the state nationalized the religious institutions' property. Without their schools and hospitals, these institutions were deprived of their traditional means of serving the people.
In 1979, there were signs of change in the government's position regarding the religious institutions. The Catholic and Protestant leaders were invited to participate in a parliamentary session in which the religious institutions were given a new role. They were to participate in the process of national reconstruction and support the most needy members of society during this difficult phase. The government agreed with the Protestant churches' proposal that it should be responsible for distributing 10% of emergency relief received by the Christian Council of Mozambique (CCM). The other 90% should be distributed by the Department for the Prevention and Combat of Natural Disasters (Van Koevering 1993, Jessen 1997).
Despite the difficult relationship between the churches and the state up to 1979, the churches never remained passive and continually sought solutions to end the conflict. They were always a force for peace. This important role reached its peak in 1992 when the churches participated in negotiations that culminated in the signing of general peace accords after the Civil War.
The number and types of churches in Mozambique have tended to increase since the signing of the peace accords in 1992, initiating a period of liberalization and more religious freedom.
Table 1. Churches existing in Mozambique and percentage of
believers
(over 5 years old).
|
Religion |
Residential Areas |
||
| |
Urban |
Rural |
Mozambique |
|
Catholic |
25.2 |
23.2 |
23.8 |
|
Muslim |
17.7 |
17.9 |
17.8 |
|
Protestant - Zion |
21.7 |
15.7 |
17.5 |
|
Protestant - Evangelist |
8.8 |
7.4 |
7.8 |
|
Christian (unspecified) |
2.7 |
4.0 |
3.6 |
|
Animist |
1.3 |
2.5 |
2.1 |
|
Others |
1.9 |
1.5 |
1.6 |
|
Non-Religious |
17.8 |
25.4 |
23.1 |
|
Unknown |
2.8 |
2.8 |
2.6 |
|
Total |
3 757 000 |
8 879 000 |
12 636 000 |
|
Church Activities Generally speaking, the churches' main activities are related to evangelism and bible studies, and to a lesser or greater degree, to community social and economic development. The main activities of Islam, practiced primarily in the North, are related to education and social conduct. Voluntary Work on Behalf of Churches There are associations of church members who practise ganho-ganho (work for cash) as a way of raising funds for their congregations. In Massoane, some mothers of a Presbyterian church have formed an 'Association of Mothers of the Presbyterian Church'. These women work in members' crop fields whenever help is needed, in return for 20 000Mt. The association also sells produce from a collective field. Support for the Most Vulnerable Generally speaking, all the churches support the neediest groups, offering moral support and distributing money and clothing to households on the death of a family member. This support is provided by church members' contributions, which may be in the form of food, clothing, seeds, taking the sick to hospital or providing labour for people who are unable to work in their own fields. In Banga, for example, members of the National Church of Abraham have to follow the rules of the church(good behaviour, respect for others, church attendance on Sundays), and in return they have the right to support when they are ill, when they need housing and other types of assistance (Lundin and Alfane 1999). In Djavanhane, the Zion church is involved in curing illnesses and the Church of the Old Apostles cures illnesses caused by witchcraft. Some churches offer food to rural communities in exchange for work. CARITAS, for example, is a nongovernmental organization linked to the Catholic church that has worked in the south of the country since the emergency period. It is funded by the World Food Programme and is presently implementing a 'Food for Work' programme for building roads and schools using local materials. Education and Reconciliation Since 1995, the Christian Council of Mozambique (a forum of Protestant churches) has implemented a project to "transform guns into hoes". This consists of collecting rifles and other objects from the war and exchanging them for hoes and other agricultural production materials. The materials from the war are then destroyed or turned into sculptures that are exhibited in Europe and America. The CCM intends to establish a culture of peace through this project, helping the transition from a state of war. The project's mission is to strengthen democracy and civil society. It also encourages people to maintain peace through promoting reconciliation and helping to initiate productive activities (CCM 1999). Among other things, the church leaders help to resolve conjugal problems and difficult relationships between individuals. They teach social behaviour and how to live with others, and participate in campaigns to prevent illnesses. The churches tend to discourage people from consulting traditional healers, and instead encourage them to seek treatment in hospitals. They also motivate members to send their children to school. |
Table 2 below shows the type of churches and numbers of
worshippers in four villages in four provinces (Tete, Gaza, Maputo and Nampula).
With the exception of Islam, there are more female than male church
members.
Source: FAO/EMU/INDER pilot research project in Mozambique:
Household income strategies and interactions with the local institutional
environment.
|
Name of Church |
Number of Members per Village |
|||
| |
Banga |
Djavanhane |
Massoane |
Netia |
|
Catholic Church |
700 members |
20 men |
|
32 men |
|
Reformed Church (CCAP) |
110 members |
|
|
|
|
Jehovah’s Witnesses |
57 members |
9 men |
|
|
|
National Church of Abraham |
200 members |
|
|
|
|
Evangelical Church of the Good Shepherd |
|
1 man |
|
|
|
Apostolic Church |
|
140 men |
|
|
|
Nazarene church |
|
9 men |
|
|
|
Zion Church |
|
45 men |
|
|
|
Weslian Methodist Church |
|
5 men |
2 men |
|
|
Presbyterian Church |
|
|
14 men |
|
|
Muslim religion |
|
|
|
80 men |
|
African Assembly of God |
|
|
|
61 men |
|
Assembly of God |
|
13 men |
|
|
The churches bring many people together regardless of their social status: members may be rich or poor and have a variety of political beliefs. This fact could be used to promote development changes, seeing as the churches have enormous potential for mobilizing their congregations.
The NGO World Relief, for example, makes good use of the churches’ mobilizing role. World Relief participates in health and education and works with volunteers who are assigned to blocks of ten families. Each volunteer is responsible for transmitting and receiving information. Before becoming responsible for information, the volunteers participate in capacity-building meetings (where they receive bible lessons among many other things). The institution is also dedicated to training the father members of many churches in AIDS prevention. These fathers then become responsible for transmitting this knowledge to their congregations.
World Relief also runs micro-financing programmes. In Chokwé, the institution develops micro-financing activities among existing groups of women who run small businesses.
Most of the churches’ activities are funded by regular contributions made by their congregations. Although the contributions are compulsory, not everyone pays. The contributions are usually monetary although sometimes goods are accepted. Some churches have agricultural fields where the congregations contribute their labour. Another source of income is working in other people’s crop fields in exchange for money. The payment of regular contributions can be seen as a positive practice, in that it helps to instill the notion of contributing towards the maintenance of a communal system (which in this case is religion). The habit of making contributions seems to be of considerable importance in promoting associations.
Many churches impose restrictions on their members which include not practising polygamy, not drinking or making alcoholic drinks and not belonging to the government, the armed forces or political parties (in the case of Jehovah’s Witnesses). The restrictions enable the churches to establish discipline within the congregation, which can be transferred to the type of discipline and responsiblity needed to engage in micro-financing scheme, among others.
In Banga, the Catholic and Reformed churches collaborate effectively with the president of the locality in mobilizing people. In many places where traditional and administrative power lack legitimacy and acceptability among the people, the churches can influence them to participate in the various community programmes.
A link could be established between the churches and NGOs to implement activities such as encouraging people to take certain measures to prevent and cure illnesses (e.g. AIDS prevention).
Regarding gender, the power relations between female and male church members are questionable. There is a traditional belief in many churches that a good woman is one who has a lot of children and is eager to stay at home and serve her husband. Thus, men have greater decision-making power in the churches. On the other hand, women are often marginalized in development programmes, so the fact that more women than men attend church could provide a good opportunity for various programmes to reach women.
The church certainly plays an important role in the development process. Since the end of the war, a growing number of new and old churches have established themselves in rural and urban areas. Although their main activity is evangelism, the churches provide significant support for other governmental and non-governmental institutions. The churches have a socio-economic impact on their congregations through their provision of emergency support to the most vulnerable, and mobilization of their congregations to engage in community public works (voluntary or for food) such as building of roads, schools and clinics. Another important role that the churches could play is to improve social cohesion within the community, beginning with collaboration between the religious institutions and the local power structures.
References
Arnfred, Signe, 1990, Notes on Gender and Modernisation.
CCM, 1999, Projecto de Transformação de armas em espinhardas, Maputo.
Cruz e Silva, 1996, Protestant Churches and the formation of political consciousness in Southern Mozambique (1930 - 1974), PhD thesis, London.
National Institute of Statistics, 1997, Recenseamento Geral de População e Habitaçåo, Indicadores sócio-económicos, Mozambique.
Jessen, Agostinho, 1997, Papel das igrejas Protestantes no processo de paz em Moçambique (1980-1992), Diploma dissertation, UEM, Maputo.
Lundin, Iraê, Rufino, Alfane, 1999, As estruturas tradicionais nas politicas de descentralização em Moçambique, primero esboço, ISRI, Maputo
