Religion in Lesotho

The 2022 United States Department of State report found Protestants slightly outnumbered Catholics. Non-Christian religions represent only 1.5% of the population, and those of no religion 3.5%. The non-Christian people primarily subscribe to traditional African religions, with small groups of Muslims, Hindus and Baha'is.

Christianity

In 2020, Catholics accounted for 45 percent of the population while Protestants represented 31 percent and other Christians an additional 18 percent. The Catholic population is served by the province of the Metropolitan Archbishop of Maseru and his three suffragans (the bishops of Leribe, Mohale's Hoek and Qacha's Nek), who also form the national episcopal conference.

Christianity arrived in Lesotho from French missions at the invitation of King Moshoeshoe I in the 1830s. While King Moshoeshoe I invited Christian missionaries, he retained his traditional religion and divorced two of his wives who had converted to Christianity. Initial reports of French evangelist missionaries alleged cannibalism as a part of Lesotho traditional religion. Later missionaries such as Henry Callaway, as well as anthropologists, consider those initial reports as unreliable and mythical, rather than a historical or true representation of the traditional religion of the Lesotho people.

The first Catholic mission started in 1863. It was called Motse-oa-'M'a-Jesu and led by Bishop Allard. He invited Holy Family Sisters from France to work with Sotho women. The initial efforts aimed at gaining converts as well as ending the practice of polygyny where old men paid a bride price to marry young girls. The later efforts attracted resistance from the traditional families. According to Allard's memoirs, Sotho women converted to Catholicism in larger numbers earlier than Sotho men.

The two Christian denominations have historic links to two major political parties in Lesotho. The Catholic Church has supported the Basotho National Party, while the Evangelicals have been aligned with the Basotho Congress Party. The nuncio accredited to South Africa represents the Holy See to the Lesotho government.