Spotlight on the Philippines
The Philippines has the fifth-largest Christian population in the world, with about 87 million Christians.
Indeed, the Philippines has the largest Christian population outside of the Americas and Europe. It also
has the third-largest Catholic population in the world (at about 76 million), behind Brazil and Mexico and
slightly ahead of the U.S. Catholic population. (See table in Catholic.)
Roman Catholic priests and missionaries began arriving in the Philippines in the 16th and 17th centuries,
around the time of the Spanish conquest of the country. The church steadily gained adherents over the
centuries. By 1900, nearly three-quarters of the population professed Roman Catholicism.1 Spain’s control
of the archipelago, which did not formally end until 1898 with the advent of American colonial rule, gave
the church in the Philippines a Spanish cast, particularly in terms of leadership. The first Filipino bishop
was consecrated in 1905, and the first Filipino cardinal in 1960.2 Today, Roman Catholics make up about
81% of the country’s population.
Though overwhelmingly Catholic, the Christian population of the Philippines also includes a significant
number of Protestants. About one-in-ten Filipinos (11%) are Protestant. The Pew Forum’s 2006 survey
of pentecostals found that nearly seven-in-ten Filipino Protestants were either pentecostal (37% of
Protestants) or charismatic (30% of Protestants).3 (For definitions of charismatic and pentecostal, see
Defining Christian Movements.)
The country also has one of the world’s largest populations of charismatic Catholics. The largest and
most visible charismatic Catholic organization in the Philippines is El Shaddai, under the leadership of a
layperson, Mike Velarde.4 Among the largest pentecostal churches and organizations are Church of Christ
(Manalista), Jesus is Lord Fellowship and the Assemblies of God.5
About 1% of the population of the Philippines belongs to other Christian groups. One of the largest non-
Protestant Christian groups in the country is the Church of Christ (Iglesia ni Cristo), a non-Trinitarian
indigenous church founded in 1914.6
More than 6 million Filipinos, or about 7% of the population, are non-Christians, most of whom are
Muslim.7
Footnotes:
1 “Philippines,” in David B. Barrett, editor, World Christian Encyclopedia: A Comparative Study of Churches and Religions
in the Modern World, AD 1900-2000, Oxford University Press, 1982, page 562. (return to text)
2 “Philippines,” in David B. Barrett, editor, World Christian Encyclopedia: A Comparative Study of Churches and Religions
in the Modern World, AD 1900-2000, Oxford University Press, 1982, page 564. (return to text)
3 Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life, Spirit and Power: A 10-Country Survey of Pentecostals, 2006. (return to text)
4 Katharine L. Wiegele, Investing in Miracles: El Shaddai and the Transformation of Popular Catholicism in the Philippines,
Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2007; Allan Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism: Global Charismatic Christianity,
Cambridge University Press, 2004, page 155. (return to text)
5 “Philippines,” in David B. Barrett, George Thomas Kurian and Todd M. Johnson, editors, World Christian Encyclopedia,
Volume 1: The World by Countries: Religionists, Churches, Ministries, Oxford University Press, 2001, pages 598-600. (return to text)
6 “Philippines,” in David B. Barrett, editor, World Christian Encyclopedia: A Comparative Study of Churches and Religions
in the Modern World, AD 1900-2000, Oxford University Press, 1982, page 564; Robert R. Reed, “The Iglesia ni Cristo,
1914-2000: From Obscure Philippine Faith to Global Belief System,” Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, Volume
157, Number 3, pages 561-608. (return to text)
7 For more information on the Muslim population of the Philippines, see Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public
Life, The Future of the Global Muslim Population: Projections for 2010-2030, 2011. (return to text)