Over half of all Christians are Roman Catholics. Nearly all Muslims adhere to the Sunni branch of Islam. The few Shi'a Muslims are primarily Middle Eastern expatriates. The Reconciliation and Development Conference, held in Cotonou and sponsored by the Government in December 1999, focused on the legacy of the triangular Atlantic slave trade and sought to reconcile Africans and the African Diaspora using evangelical Protestant principles. Participants offered numerous religious and secular perspectives.
Missionary groups operate freely throughout the country.
There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom during the period covered by this report. There were no reports of religious detainees or prisoners. There were no reports of the forced religious conversion of minor U.S. citizens who had been abducted or illegally removed from the United States, or of the Government's refusal to allow such citizens to be returned to the United States. Due possibly to the diversity of religious affiliations within families and communities, religious tolerance is widespread at all levels of society and in all geographic regions. Relations are generally amicable between the many religious groups.