Grenada, known as the Spice Isle for the nutmeg and mace plantations that have defined its economy since French and later British colonization, carries a religious history split between the two powers that ruled it in succession: Roman Catholicism, planted under French rule before the British took the island in 1783, remains the largest single tradition, while Anglican, Presbyterian and a growing number of Pentecostal and evangelical churches trace to the longer period of British administration that followed. The country is remembered internationally for the 1979 revolution that brought the Marxist New Jewel Movement to power and for the American-led invasion that ended it in 1983 after a violent internal party coup, a period during which church leaders, particularly Catholic and Anglican clergy, became some of the most visible domestic critics of the revolutionary government's restrictions on political and civic life. The constitution restored after 1983 guarantees freedom of religion and conscience and establishes no state church, following the same pattern common across the former British Windward and Leeward Islands. Grenada's small population, spread across the main island and the smaller dependencies of Carriacou and Petite Martinique, sustains an unusually dense concentration of churches relative to its size, and religious festivals tied to the agricultural calendar, especially the nutmeg harvest, remain woven into community life in a way that outlasted both the revolutionary period and the colonial one before it.
Facts
Law and State
Establishment Status State Funding MechanismThe government subsidizes Grenada's existing denominational schools, run by the Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Seventh-day Adventist and Mennonite churches, each managed by its own board of directors and staffed by its associated faith based organization while drawing on state funds, a continuation of the colonial era arrangement under which church bodies built and ran the island's first schools before the government began operating schools of its own. 3 Apostasy or Blasphemy LawGrenada's Criminal Code prohibits the publication and sale of blasphemous material, but the government does not enforce the provision. 3 Concordat BasisSourced to the subject's own accountGrenada has never concluded a concordat with the Holy See. The earliest documented papal representative to the country, Manuel Monteiro de Castro, was appointed Apostolic Pro-Nuncio on 16 February 1985, and the title of Apostolic Nuncio to Grenada is held, as with the country's other diplomatic missions from Rome, by the prelate appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Trinidad and Tobago, who resides in Trinidad rather than in Grenada, part of the shared nunciature pattern the Holy See uses across the smaller states of the Eastern Caribbean. 4 Government
Government Typeparliamentary constitutional monarchy (Commonwealth realm) 2 Sovereignty StatusSovereign UN member state 2 Established Year Government type (class) Demographics
Religious CompositionAbout 85 per cent Christian, a Roman Catholic plurality alongside Anglican, Pentecostal, Seventh-day Adventist and other Protestant churches, with small other-faith and unaffiliated minorities (Pew Research Center, Religious Composition of the World, 2010-2020). 1 Status
Legal StatusThe constitution guarantees freedom of religion and conscience and creates no established church, a guarantee that endured through the 1979 to 1983 revolutionary period when church leaders were among the government's most visible domestic critics. 3 Classification
State Funding of ReligionState Neutrality Among Religions 5 Location
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Religion and History in Grenada
This article records tradition as it has been passed down and reported. Its sources are not yet part of the atlas's verified catalogue.
Grenada, known as the Spice Isle for the nutmeg and mace plantations that have defined its economy since French and later British colonization, carries a religious history split between the two powers that ruled it in succession: Roman Catholicism, planted under French rule before the British took the island in 1783, remains the largest single tradition, while Anglican, Presbyterian and a growing number of Pentecostal and evangelical churches trace to the longer period of British administration that followed.
Grenada's small population, spread across the main island and the smaller dependencies of Carriacou and Petite Martinique, sustains an unusually dense concentration of churches relative to its size, and religious festivals tied to the agricultural calendar, especially the nutmeg harvest, remain woven into community life in a way that outlasted both the colonial period and the political upheaval that followed independence in 1974.
Church Leaders Against the Revolution in Grenada
This article records tradition as it has been passed down and reported. Its sources are not yet part of the atlas's verified catalogue.
Grenada is remembered internationally for the 1979 revolution that brought the Marxist New Jewel Movement to power and for the American-led invasion that ended it in 1983 after a violent internal party coup, a period during which church leaders, particularly Catholic and Anglican clergy, became some of the most visible domestic critics of the revolutionary government's restrictions on political and civic life. The constitution restored after 1983 guarantees freedom of religion and conscience and establishes no state church, following the same pattern common across the former British Windward and Leeward Islands.
The government subsidizes Grenada's existing denominational schools, run by the Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Seventh-day Adventist and Mennonite churches, each managed by its own board of directors while drawing on state funds, a continuation of the colonial era arrangement under which church bodies built and ran the island's first schools before the government began operating schools of its own.
Grenada
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Connections
Ancient and Historical Regions
Source United Nations Statistics Division: UN M49 Standard country or area codes for statistical use: geographic regions
Associated With
This source names Grenada directly: "de Castro as Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Grenada from 16 February 1985, the earliest documented papal representative to the country, and that the title of Apostolic Nuncio to Grenada is held by the same..."
Source Apostolic Nunciature to Grenada (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors
This source names Grenada directly: "coverage, an outlet independent of Grenada's government and its Rastafari community though oriented toward the cannabis industry, reporting Governor General Dame Cecile La Grenade's 13 February 2026..."
Source Grenada Receives Governor General Approval for Cannabis Reforms (International Cannabis Business Conference)
Spread Events Here
Source Grenada Parliament Approves Amendment to Marijuana Legislation (CNC3)
Sources
1. Religious Composition of the World, 2010-2020
2. The World Factbook (Central Intelligence Agency)
3. International Religious Freedom Report
United States Department of State, Office of International Religious Freedom, US Department of State, 2023View the Source 4. Apostolic Nunciature to Grenada (Wikipedia)
5. The Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd edition
Oxford University Press, Oxford University Press- demonym / adjectival form
Entity description, state-funding
The constitution restored after 1983 guarantees freedom of religion and conscience and establishes no state church
View the Source United Nations Statistics Division: UN M49 Standard country or area codes for statistical use: geographic regions
United Nations Statistics DivisionAncient and Historical Regions: The Caribbean, Geographic regions table, CaribbeanQuote, Ancient and Historical Regions: The Caribbean, Geographic regions table, Caribbean
Caribbean 029 Anguilla 660 AIA SIDS Antigua and Barbuda 028 ATG SIDS Aruba 533 ABW SIDS Bahamas 044 BHS SIDS Barbados 052 BRB SIDS Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba 535 BES SIDS British Virgin Islands 092 VGB SIDS Cayman Islands 136 CYM Cuba 192 CUB SIDS Curaçao 531 CUW SIDS Dominica 212 DMA SIDS Dominican Republic 214 DOM SIDS Grenada 308 GRD SIDS Guadeloupe 312 GLP Haiti 332 HTI LDC SIDS Jamaica 388 JAM SIDS Martinique 474 MTQ Montserrat 500 MSR SIDS Puerto Rico 630 PRI SIDS Saint Barthélemy 652 BLM Saint Kitts and Nevis 659 KNA SIDS Saint Lucia 662 LCA SIDS Saint Martin (French Part) 663 MAF Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 670 VCT SIDS Sint Maarten (Dutch part) 534 SXM SIDS Trinidad and Tobago 780 TTO SIDS Turks and Caicos Islands 796 TCA United States Virgin Islands 850 VIR SIDS
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