Religion in Lesotho

Lesotho has no state religion. Christianity is widespread through the Roman Catholic Church, the Lesotho Evangelical Church in Southern Africa, the Anglican Church of Lesotho, the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, Assemblies of God, the African Methodist Episcopal Church and independent churches. Many Christians also connect Christian practice with indigenous rituals and ancestor-related beliefs. Muslim communities, Bahá’í communities, Rastafarian communities and other locally identified groups, including Pholosoa, form smaller religious communities. Muslims are found particularly in northern Lesotho and Maseru. The Bahá’í community has a National Spiritual Assembly founded in 1953, local communities in more than 80 localities, prayer gatherings, children’s moral-education classes and adult and youth study circles. Religious figures are not fully comparable because the available sources use different methods. A government portal gives 80% Christian and 20% indigenous-belief figures without stating the year. A 2021 LDS/HRI-CORE source records no religious data, while processing of the 2026 Population and Housing Census is still ongoing. A 2023 United States estimate places Christians at about 90%, with Protestants at 56.2%, Roman Catholics at 39% and Muslims at 0.1%; Afrobarometer reported more than 95% Christian affiliation in 2022. These estimates are not official and should not be combined as one measurement. The Constitution protects the freedom to change religion or belief and to manifest it publicly or privately through worship, teaching, practice and observance. It also prohibits discrimination based on religion. Restrictions require a legal basis and must relate to matters such as defence, public safety, public order, morality, health or the rights of other people. A person cannot be forced to take a religious oath that conflicts with their belief. Reported concerns include a 2023 anti-Muslim statement by a minister, criticism from MUCOL and the Supreme Council Islamic Affairs about Christian preference, and Muslim leaders’ reports of lower access to state religious broadcasting. These concerns do not establish broad, systematic religious persecution, but they show why equal treatment remains a practical issue. Rastafarian cannabis-religion litigation has also raised questions about the limits of religious practice. Under the Societies Act 1966, a religious group can register through its leadership committee as a legal person, meaning an organization that can hold rights and responsibilities in its own name. Registration is optional and there is no reported sanction for operating without it. Registration can provide legal standing, formal organizational status and income-tax exemption. An unregistered group may still operate and worship, but it does not receive the same legal personality and related institutional benefits. The available facts do not establish a standard registration fee or processing deadline. Religious communities may establish and manage educational institutions and provide faith instruction. Under the Education Act 2010, a church is a religious body registered under the Societies Act 1966. The Ministry of Education pays or certifies teachers in publicly funded religious schools, and secular and religious schools follow the standard curriculum approved by the Minister. Religious instruction is legally optional, and a student or guardian may refuse instruction or a ceremony connected with another religion. In practice, religious education was reported in 2023 to be predominantly Christian and often treated as effectively compulsory, with no reported opt-outs. Churches operate about 83% of primary schools and 66% of secondary schools. The law does not exclude admission by denomination, but acceptance by a particular school or community is not guaranteed. Lesotho’s statutory Christian public holidays include Good Friday, Easter Monday, Ascension Day and Christmas Day on 25 December. The dates of the movable holidays follow the ecclesiastical calendar. No national statutory Eid or Bahá’í holidays are established in the available research, although individual communities may organize their own observances. The Christian Council of Lesotho, founded in 1965 and registered under the Societies Act, provides an ecumenical fellowship, meaning cooperation among different Christian churches. Its members include Assemblies of God, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church of Lesotho, the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, the Lesotho Evangelical Church in Southern Africa and the Student Christian Movement. Its work includes ecumenism, interfaith dialogue, human rights, conflict transformation and gender-based-violence roundtables. Broader interfaith cooperation is more fragmented and often develops around specific issues rather than through one permanent national structure. Religious marriage is generally conducted by clergy. A Bahá’í couple may use a civil marriage option because the Bahá’í faith has no clergy, according to a 2023 legal report. Civil marriage is available through the Ministry of Home Affairs or through a church whose marriage officer is authorized. Customary marriage is legally recognized. Birth, wedding and funeral ceremonies vary by denomination and community, and local practices may include ancestor veneration or other ritual meanings alongside Christian influence. Community-specific ceremony costs are not standardized, and the available facts do not provide a complete schedule of state fees.