1/15/2024 0 Comments Dom of religion constitutionThe Constitution allows for the “generally free practice of religion.” It invokes the name of God in its preamble, while the national motto per Article 34 is “God, Homeland, Liberty” and is displayed on the national flag above a shield containing an open Bible (the only national flag with a Bible). The Domincan Republic is a civil law country based on French Civil Codes and governed by the Political Constitution of the Dominican Republic (“Constitution”), promulgated January 26, 2010. This meeting brought together world religious leaders and scholars to talk about various issues facing religious freedom.Ĭonstitutional Provisions and Ordinances on Religion In April 2012, the DR hosted a worldwide event: IRLA’s Seventh World Congress entitled “The Secular Challenge to Religious Freedom. In February 2010, the Catholic University of Santo Domingo, Latin American Consortium for Religious Liberty, and International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University co-sponsored a conference attended by legislators, government officials, scholars, and religious leaders regarding “Religion and the Legislative Framework for the New Dominican Constitution.” Speakers in the latter, addressing Santo Domingo’s Palacio de Deportes filled to its 13,000-person capacity, urged separation of church and state and denounced the DR’s current favoritism toward the Catholic Church. The first Inter-American Congress on Religious Freedom took place in April 2009, followed by the Inter-America’s first Religious Freedom Festival entitled “Religious Liberty: The Latin American Experience,” sponsored by the International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA) in May 2009. In recent years, the DR has played host to several regional and local conferences on religious freedom. This visa may be renewed before the original one-year visa has expired. For longer stays, foreign missionaries generally obtain a one-year multi-entry business visa (commonly known as an “NM” visa) through the Ministry of Foreign Relations, which requires a completed application form, original passport, two passport-sized photos, and a document offering proof as to the business activity from the institution or person in the DR with whom the missionary is affiliated. The DR is open to religious missionaries, having no immigration restrictions or quotas for religious workers. Finally, 10.6 percent reportedly do not practice a religion. An unknown number of Dominicans practice a combination of Catholicism and Afro-Caribbean beliefs, witchcraft, or voodoo, but because these practices are not openly accepted, they are usually concealed. The DR is home to Spiritist (2.2 percent) and Baha’i, Buddhist, Chinese Universalist, Jewish (about 300 members ), Muslim (700 to 800 members ), and Neoreligionist faiths (each representing less than 0.1 percent), as well. Traditional Protestants evangelical Christian groups, including Assemblies of God, Church of God, Baptists, and Pentecostals (18.2 percent of the population ) Seventh-day Adventists (.02 percent with 227,061 members ) Jehovah’s Witnesses and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (.01 percent with 118,557 members ) have a much smaller but generally growing presence. The largest religious group is the Roman Catholic Church, adhered to by 69 percent of Dominicans, although practiced by only 40 percent. The name of the capital (Santo Domingo) and of the residents (Dominicans) are reminiscent of the country’s historical connection to the religious order of Dominican fathers. The Dominican Republic (DR), occupying two-thirds of the island Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, is a predominantly Christian nation, with 95 percent of the population of 10.08 million claiming Christian beliefs.
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