Religion in the United States Virgin Islands is varied, though most U.S. Virgin Islanders are Christian. The U.S. Virgin Islands has a history of

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

and

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

, with Jews first settling on the islands in 1655. It is estimated that only 5-6% of the population is non-Christian (see chart).

Christianity

As in most Caribbean countries, Christianity is the dominant religion in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

is most prevalent, reflecting the territory's colonial heritage. There is also a strong

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

presence. Protestants make up 65.5% (

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

32%,

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

12%,

Adventist Adventism is a branch of Protestant Christianity that believes in the imminent Second Coming (or the "Second Advent") of Jesus Christ. It originated in the 1830s in the United States during the Second Great Awakening when Baptist preacher Willi ...

10%,

Episcopalian Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protes ...

9%, other 2.5%) of the total population on the islands. Catholics are 27.1% of the population.CIA World Factbook
Accessed 11-24-12

Judaism

Jews began settling in the

Danish Virgin Islands The Danish West Indies () or Danish Virgin Islands () or Danish Antilles were a Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas with , Saint John () with , Saint Croix with , and Water Island. The islands of St ...

in 1655, and by 1796 the first synagogue was inaugurated. In its heyday in the mid-19th century, the Jewish community comprised half of the white population. One of the earliest colonial governors,

Gabriel Milan Gabriel Milan ( – 26 March 1689) was a colonial administrator and planter who served as governor of the Danish West Indies from 7 May 1684 to 27 February 1686. Though he mainly went by the name of 'Gabriel Milan', he identified himself as ...

, was a

Sephardic Jew Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

, as was the Impressionist artist

Camille Pissarro Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro ( ; ; 10 July 1830 – 13 November 1903) was a Danish-French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter born on the island of St Thomas (now in the US Virgin Islands, but then in the Danish West Indies). ...

who was born in St Thomas. Today, there are still Jews living in the Islands. The St. Thomas Synagogue built in 1833, is the second- oldest existing synagogue and longest in continuous use now under the American flag. The synagogue is associated with the

Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish religious movements, Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its Jewish ethics, ethical aspects to its ceremo ...

movement. There is also a synagogu
Temple B'nai Or
at Hermon Hill on St. Croix close to Christiansted.

Hinduism

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

is practiced by the

Indo-Caribbean Indo-Caribbean or Indian-Caribbean people are people from the Caribbean who trace their ancestry to the Indian subcontinent. They are descendants of the Jahaji indentured laborers from British India, who were brought by the British, Dutch, and ...

and Indian (mostly Sindhi

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

) population. The religion first arrived in 1863 with the first indentured laborers from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. There is a

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, also known as Mandir, Devasthanam, Pura, or Kovil, is a sacred place where Hindus worship and show their devotion to Hindu deities, deities through worship, sacrifice, and prayers. It is considered the house of the god to who ...

in La Grande Princesse, St. Croix, and one in Frenchman's Bay, St. Thomas.

Islam

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

in the

United States Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and a territory of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located ...

is a minority

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

in the territory.

History

Islam grew in the territory beginning in the 1960s which mainly came from other Caribbean islands and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

originally for work purposes. They brought their families and eventually settled down on the island. In 1978, the Muhammad Mosque was established as the first mosque in the territory. It was later renamed to Nur Mosque. In 1998 the first Islamic school, IQRA' ACADEMY, was opened, in St. Croix. There were, as of 2011, around 1,200 Muslims in the Islands.

Bahai

The Bahai Faith was established in the Virgin Islands in the 1950s and has had active communities and spiritual assemblies there since that time. The Bahai National Center for the US and British Virgin Islands is located on St. Thomas and local centers are elsewhere. The local communities are administered by local spiritual assemblies and are under the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahais of the Virgin Islands.

Buddhism

There is a Buddhist temple located on the island of St. Thomas.

Rastafari

As in most of the Caribbean, various forms of

Rastafari Rastafari is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by Religious studies, scholars of religion. There is no central authori ...

are practiced on the island.

References

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