Jamaica

In Jamaica, Pentecostalist-style churches dominate the religious landscape. Catholic churches almost always incorporate some element of Pentecostalist or charismatic worship, though the degree seems to vary by social class. Music is very important to worship and considered itself a religious experience. Catholicism also is deeply influenced by Afro-Jamaican cultural beliefs, particularly beliefs about witchcraft, spirits and possession.

The articles here focus Catholic life and practice in the metropolitan area around Kingston, the nation’s capital, including the civil parishes of St. Andrew and St. Catherine. About 2/3 of the island’s Catholics live in this area. The country towns in different parts of the island have long had a slightly different rhythm, and the tourist areas around Montego Bay are differently impacted by the daily influx of North American tourists. Read more...

Demographics

  • 1. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2018). World Urbanization Prospects: The 2018 Revision, Online Edition.
  • 2.United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Trends in International Migrant Stock: The 2015 revision.
  • 3.United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, Homicide Statistics 2015.
  • 4.Transparency International, Corruption Perceptions Index 2016.
  • 5.UNICEF, State of the World's Children, 2016.
  • 6. Statistical Yearbook of the Church 2020 (Vatican City: Librera Editrice Vaticana, 2022).
  • 7.World Economic Forum, The Global Gender Gap Report, 2016.

Footnotes