Jan 222009
Religious freedom is hard-wired into the constitution of Cape Verde with religious persecution acknowledged as a crime for which the guilty may spend between 3 months and 3 years behind bars.
Catholicism is the main religion of Cape Verde with around 85% of the populace claiming to be Roman Catholics centering in the dioceses of Mindelo and Santiago de Cabo Verde. Other religions reported in the country are Protestants including Evangelists and Adventists, Mormons and Bahá’í.
There is a small but growing Muslim community, many of which are Senegalese traders or other immigrants from North Africa and around 1% of Cape Verdeans are atheists who profess no religious belief at all.
