Annual Religious Freedom Report, 2008
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and
other laws and policies contributed to the generally free practice of religion.
The law at all levels protects this right in full against abuse, either by
governmental or private actors.
The Government generally respected religious freedom in
practice. There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom by
the Government during the period covered by this report.
There were no reports of societal abuses or discrimination
based on religious affiliation, belief, or practice.
The U.S. Government discusses religious freedom with the
Government as part of its overall policy to promote human rights.
Section I. Religious Demography
The country, which occupies two-thirds of the island of
Hispaniola, has an area of 18,815 square miles and a population of 9.4 million.
The largest religious group is the Roman Catholic Church. Traditional
Protestants, evangelical Christians (particularly Assembly of God, Church of
God, Baptists, and Pentecostals), Seventh-day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses,
and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) have a much
smaller but generally growing presence. According to a 2006 population survey
by the Gallup Organization, the population is 39.8 percent Catholic
(practicing), 29.1 percent Catholic (nonpracticing), and 18.2 percent
evangelical Protestant. In the same study, 10.6 percent stated they had no
religion. The Dominican Confederation of Evangelical Unity (CODUE) claims that
evangelicals represent 16 to 20 percent of the population.
There are approximately 300 Jews. Most live in Santo
Domingo, which has a synagogue and a community leader but no ordained rabbi.
There is a synagogue for the small Jewish community in Sosua. Both synagogues
are led by the same individual.
Various government sources estimate that there are between
5,000 and 10,000 Muslims, a figure that includes many foreign students. There
is an active Sunni mosque in Santo Domingo, with approximately 300 regular
worshippers. There is a small number of Buddhists and Hindus. Some Catholics
practice a combination of Catholicism and Afro-Caribbean beliefs (santería),
witchcraft (brujería), or voodoo (vodou), but because these practices are
usually concealed, the number of adherents is unknown.
Section II. Status of Religious Freedom
Legal/Policy Framework
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and
other laws and policies contributed to the generally free practice of religion.
The law at all levels protects this right in full against abuse, either by
governmental or private actors.
While the Constitution specifies that there is no state
church and allows the freedom of religion and belief, the Government signed a
concordat in 1954 with the Vatican, designating Catholicism as the official
religion and extending to the Catholic Church special privileges not granted to
other religious groups. These include the legal recognition of church law, use
of public funds to underwrite some church expenses, such as rehabilitation of
church facilities, and a complete exoneration from customs duties. In January
2008 the Government informed the Catholic Church that it would assume most of
the cost of building a new cathedral and religious sanctuary complex in
Bayaguana. Some estimated the religious sanctuary would cost approximately 12
million dollars (RD 400 million pesos), with the cathedral costing more than 3
million dollars (RD 100 million pesos).
The Government observes Epiphany, Our Lady of Altagracia
Day, Good Friday, Corpus Christi, Our Lady of Mercedes Day, and Christmas as
national holidays.
Religious groups are required to register with the
Government. Religious groups other than the Catholic Church may request
exoneration from customs duties from the Office of the Presidency. This process
can be lengthy; however, no requests for tax exoneration were denied during the
period covered by this report. Evangelical Protestant leaders regularly urged
the Government to provide their churches privileges equivalent to those granted
to the Catholic Church. Catholic weddings are the only religious wedding
ceremonies that the Government recognizes.
The Supreme Court had not acted further on the complaint
brought in July 2006 by the Ministerio Jesús es Sanidad y Vida Eterna (Jesus is
Health and Life Eternal Ministries), an evangelical Christian organization,
challenging the constitutionality of the concordat between the state and the
Vatican. On February 21, 2008, the organization demonstrated outside the
Supreme Court to protest the delay. In August 2006 the Office of the Attorney
General recommended that the constitutional challenge be denied.
The law requires that the Bible be read in public schools,
but it was not enforced. Private schools are exempt from this requirement.
Restrictions on Religious
Freedom
The Government generally respected religious freedom in
practice. There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom by
the Government during the period covered by this report.
There were no reports of religious prisoners or detainees
in the country.
Forced Religious Conversion
There were no reports of forced religious conversion,
including of minor U.S. citizens who had been abducted or illegally removed from
the United States, or of the refusal to allow such citizens to be returned to
the United States.
Section III. Societal Abuses and Discrimination
There were no reports of societal abuses or discrimination
based on religious affiliation, belief, or practice.
Section IV. U.S. Government Policy
The U.S. Government discusses religious freedom with the
Government as part of its overall policy to promote human rights.
Representatives of the U.S. Embassy met with leaders of various religious
communities, including those of minority groups. (Full
2008 Report on International Religious Freedom) | 
