Religion in Guyana

Chase Everett Olsen

Guyana is located on the northeast seashore of mainland South America. Despite its relatively small population of about 750,000,  it is a highly diverse country with people of Indian, African, Amerindian, Chinese, and European descent.  English is the national language.  Guyana’s land was originally populated by semi-nomadic Amerindian tribes such as the Arawaks and Caribs.  It was sighted by the Spanish in 1499, divided among European powers, and the Dutch took control of it until 1814 at which point it was ceded to the British.  In 1831, British Guiana was formed.  When British Guiana gained its independence in 1966, its name changed to Guyana as it entered the British Commonwealth.  In 1970, Guyana was established as a republic in the Commonwealth of Nations and today its official name is the Co-operative Republic of Guyana.

Guyana’s colonial history played an important role in creating the large Christian population in the nation. European slaveowners discouraged the teaching of Christianity to their slaves.  But after the abolition of slavery, Christianity began to play an important role in obtaining social acceptance for newly freed slaves.  Eventually, immigration from India to Guyana established a Hindu population among the already established Christian population.  Several scholars have discussed the difficulties the Hindu and Muslim populations have faced and still face as they strive toward societal equality in Guyana.  Progress toward social equality is evidenced by non-Christian political leadership, inter-faith organizations such as the Inter-Religious Organization, and the public recognition of non-Christian holidays.  

Guyana’s achievement of independence was accompanied by a socialist movement. The major political parties in the years preceding independence were generally anti-capitalist and socialist.  The British even suspended the Guyanese government in the 1950s due to Cold War fears of Marxism and communism.  Today, Guyana’s constitution states that the Guyanese government is guided by the principles of socialism.  “The principle objective of the political system of the State is to extend socialist democracy.”  

A large majority of the population of Guyana is religious, with Christianity and Hinduism as the majority religions and Catholicism and Islam as the minorities.  Of the referred population, 49.2 percent identified themselves as Christian (16.9 percent Pentecostal, 6.9 percent Anglican, 5 percent Seventh-day Adventist, 1.7 percent Methodist, and 18.7 percent other Christian faiths.)  And 28.4 percent of the population identifies as Hindu.  8.1 percent identify as Roman Catholic and 7.2 percent as Muslim.  4.3 percent of the population claimed no religious affiliation.  And 2.8 percent identified as “other or unspecified.” 

In Guyana, the Constitution and other laws and policies provide broad protection of religious liberties for individuals and religious groups.  Guyanese people are free to exercise any religion they choose and there is no state religion. 

The Constitution of Guyana offers broad protections of religious liberty to the individual. It proclaims itself a secular state.  And part 2 Title 1 of the Constitution guarantees protection of the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual. Among these fundamental freedoms are the freedom of conscience, the freedom of expression, and the freedom of assembly and association, all of which provide support to religious freedom. 

Article 145 of the Constitution protects the religious freedom of the individual. It says that, “except with his or her own consent, no person shall be hindered in the enjoyment of his or her freedom of conscience.” It assures each individual the “freedom to change his or her religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others, and both in public and in private, to manifest and propagate his or her religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance.”  

The Constitution also protects religious communities and their right to offer religious instruction. A 2003 addition to the Constitution declares that no religion or religious belief shall be vilified.  And the Constitution assures that “no religious community shall be prevented from providing religious instruction for persons of that community.” 
 
The right of a religious community to instruct its members is balanced in the Constitution by the individual’s right to not receive religious instruction. “Except with his or her own consent . . . no person attending any place of education shall be required to receive religious instruction or to take part in or attend any religious ceremony or observance if that instruction, ceremony or observance relates to a religion which is not his own.”  And in Guyana, “no person shall be compelled to take any oath which is contrary to his religion or belief or to take any oath in a manner which is contrary to his or her religion or belief.” 
 
One potential area of concern for religious freedom in the Guyana Constitution is a sweeping statement found in the final section of article 145. It says:
  • Nothing contained in or done under the authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention of this article to the extent that the law in question makes provision – which is reasonably required – in the interests of defense, public safety, public order, public morality, or public health . . .  
Although religious freedoms in Guyana have gone largely untested because government officials have maintained positive relationships with religious organizations, the broad language found in this section of the Constitution could give the government substantial latitude in infringing on religious freedoms.  . . .

With the recent (2015) change of presidential party after 23 years of same-party rule, there may be good cause to keep an eye on religious freedoms in Guyana. But the new administration’s outlook for continued future of protected religious freedoms looks promising. For example, President David Granger’s administration recently created the Ministry of Social Cohesion to promote, among other things, interfaith harmony.  He appeared personally to deliver the keynote address at a celebration of Interfaith Harmony Week in Umana Yana in 2017.  A celebration of Interfaith Harmony Week was held again in Guyana in February of 2018 with equal support from presidentially appointed political ministry leaders for promoting religious freedom. 

The foregoing is excepted from Guyana: Law and Religion Framework Overview (2018). To read this entire report, please click the link below: