Religious Freedom Ranking: 3.5 out of 5 stars: Needs Improvement

The Constitution guarantees religious freedom. However, although the nation theoretically adheres to the separation of church and state, the Church of Tuvalu is the state religion. Also, traditional councils have hindered the free practice of religion on some islands. There have been no reports of forced religious conversion.

The country has a population of 10, 860 people. Within this population, the Church of Tuvalu represents 91 percent of the population; Seventh-day Adventist, 3 percent; Baha’i Faith, 3 percent; Jehovah’s Witnesses, 2 percent; and Roman Catholic, 1 percent. Other smaller groups include Muslims, Baptists, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A new charismatic Protestant group, the Tuvalu Brethren Church, claims to have at least 300 followers, and has been banned from spreading its message on certain islands. Also, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community claims to have 400 members in Tuvalu.

The preamble to the Constitution declares that the country is “an independent State based on Christian principles, the Rule of Law, and Tuvaluan custom and tradition.” The Church of Tuvalu is the state church. Yet, in theory, the constitution adheres to the principle of separation of church and state. Government ceremonies at a nationwide level frequently include Christian prayers. Religious groups with more than 50 affiliates are required to register with the government or face prosecution.

In September 2009, the Tuvalu Court of Appeal ruled in favor of an appeal made by the Tuvalu Brethren Church against a 2005 High Court judgment. This ruling had upheld the authority of traditional island elder councils to limit the constitutional right of religious freedom if and when conventional moral order was threatened. The court reversed the High Court ruling and proclaimed the banning of the Tuvalu Brethren Church to be unconstitutional.

Other than the above-mentioned cases, missionaries are allowed to operate freely.

However, there have been isolated reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious affiliation, belief, and practice, mostly found on the northern island of Nanumanga. Both the Tuvalu Brethren Church and Jehovah’s Witnesses experience discrimination by being denied the right to hold religious meetings. Local traditional leaders believed these religious groups disrupted traditional societal organizations.

2010 US State Department Religious Freedom Report on Tuvalu

Submission of the Tuvalu Brethren to the UN Human Rights Council