Religion
The Church and the People
Until the beginning of the 20th century there was only one church in Cape Verde , the Roman Catholic Church. Simply stated, to be a Cape Verdean was to be counted by civil authorities as a member of the Catholic Church. Church ceremonies added solemnity and an air of dignity to life's ritual events. The Church kept the only official birth, marriage, and death records. However, some students of Cape Verdean history argue that the influence of the Church in the day-to-day lives of the Islanders was not as important as musical traditions or the popular saints day celebrations. For the landless peasant Church holy days and processions were usually more festa than "holy".
Over the centuries there have been several small migrations of Jews fleeing political persecution in Spain and Portugal . Jews have also migrated from Morocco to Cape Verde . Many Jewish family names survive in Cape Verde to this day (e.g. Levy, Ben David, Benoliel, Benros, Cohen, Solomao etc.) But there is no evidence to suggest that Judaism or any religion other than Roman Catholicism was ever practiced in the Islands until the 20th century. In recent years international Jewish diaspora researchers have "discovered" Cape Verde and have added the islands to the long list of places to which Jews were scattered. In Mindelo and Praia there is something of a resurgence of interest among many of the decedents of these immigrants in their distant Jewish cultural roots.
Catholic missionary activity in the Islands began with the arrival of the Franciscan Fathers in 1466. In 1604 Jesuits initiated an even more limited mission program. The Holy Ghost Order came to the islands in 1941 and the Capuchins in 1946 followed soon after by the Salesian Fathers. Generally, these efforts were lacking in both scope and continuity. Religious authorities in Europe were slow to replace priests when their assignments had ended or when missionaries died. There were very few priests posted in the more remote areas of the archipelago. Cape Verdean popular folklore is rich with stories of some of these missionaries and the loving acceptance they were accorded by local populations especially in these more remote locations. A few of these missionaries are remembered not so much for their religious zeal but for the children they fathered in these same rural villages.
Before the Pilgrims set sail for America , Catholic priests had established a school at Cidade Velha (Ribeira Grande) on the island of Santiago . In 1652 at the urgings of the noted Portuguese scholar-priest, Padre Antonio Vieira, a small contingent of Capuchin missionaries were sent to work among Cape Verde 's growing population. In spite of these efforts the islands would continue to be largely ignored by the Church of Rome for almost three centuries. Even after 400 years of colonization, many Cape Verdeans in the lesser populated islands and in the isolated interior villages rarely saw a priest.
The Portuguese Bishop Moniz established a secondary school in Brava in the early 1850's. Joao Vittorino, a Cape Verdean and former Portuguese Calvary officer, was recalled from years of exile in Paris to assume a teaching post at the new school. Students from throughout the archipelago and the colony of Guine came to Brava to attend the school. A few promising Cape Verdean students were often sent to study at one of the Church-sponsored institutions in Lisbon . Simplicio Joao Rodrigues de Brito of Sao Nicolau, was one such student. De Brito was sent to study at Casa Pia in Lisbon where he soon acquired a deserved reputation for his art work. De Brito's talents were encouraged by an Italian painter with whom he eventually traveled to Brazil . In later life DeBrito was called by King Pedro I to be the court portrait painter in Brazil .
The seminary in Vila de Ribeira Brava (Sao Nicolau) was established in 1876. For over fifty years, this institution occupied center stage in the scholarly life of Cape Verde . Students traveled from throughout Cape Verde and Guine to inscribe in classical programs of study. The faculty was both lay and religious, both Cape Verdean and Portuguese. Many students were able to remain in their home island and travel to Sao Nicolau by schooner to take examinations or to confer with their academic advisors. In spite of its Church affiliation, the seminary's influence was predominantly educational and cultural in character rather than religious.
The overthrow of the Portuguese monarchy was followed by a succession of short lived civil governments. Following World War I Portugal and much of Europe was engulfed in economic depression. Cape Verde and its seminary fell into a period of rapid decline. The new colonial government transformed the venerable institution into a seminary-high school in 1917. The seminary continued to have a profound influence on the cultural life of the archipelago and stimulated the creative efforts and aspirations of generations of students. In spite of its institutional demise Cape Verdeans continue to refer to the seminary in Sao Nicolau as proof positive that "something good" can be cultivated and flower in the scholarly life of the archipelago.
With the passage of time it became evident to colonial government officials and Catholic clergy alike that the work of these men would effectively call into question the principal of the "infallibility" of Roman Catholicism and its traditional relationship with the state. The ever mounting challenge of evangelistic Protestantism piqued the interest of the Portuguese hierarchy and local church authorities. Small groups of people would gather in each others' homes to worship and prevail upon each other to build a spirit of solidarity in the face of mounting pressure to cease what was characterized as "anti- Catholic" and therefore "anti-Portuguese" practices. The Portuguese enacted legislation outlawing the public practice of any religion other than Roman Catholicism (Article 130 of the Penal Code). Violation would subject the offender to imprisonment.
Most demographic data would suggest that as few as 9 or 10 percent of the Cape Verdean people identify themselves as "Protestant." Fully half of Cape Verdean Protestants are members of the Church of the Nazarene. Protestantism was never imposed on the Cape Verdean people, but was introduced by fellow Cape Verdeans and was embraced only by those who chose to.
In recognition of the 500th anniversary of Catholicism in the Cape Verde Islands , His Holiness Pope John Paul II made an official visit to the Islands in January of 1990.
The United Nations has designated serveral areas in Cape Verde as World Culture Sites. Foremost among them is Cidade Velha in Santiago , site of the first Cathedral in Africa . The Gulbenkian Foundation and other philanthropic organizations are supporting Cape Verde 's efforts to protect its religious cultural heritage.
Religious expression among Cape Verdeans of faith has taken many institutional forms. There are regular radio broadcasts and widely read religious publications in the Islands . Since national independence the relationship between the institutional Catholic Church and the state has been the subject of constant renegotiation. The Catholic Church has actively attempted to define and defend both its temporal and spiritual interests in Cape Verde . The Church exerted a significant degree of influence in shaping the debates of the 1991 national election in Cape Verde . It was particularly engaged on issues of family planning and land reform. These Church activities are evidence of Cape Verde 's constitutional guarantees of freedom of religious expression and reflect emerging popular support for such guarantees.
