Editing Tuvalu (section)

===Religion===
{{main|Religion in Tuvalu}}

[[File:Fetu Ao Lima (Morning Star Church), Congregational Christian Church of Tuvalu.jpg|thumb|Fetu Ao Lima (Morning Star Church), Congregational Christian Church of Tuvalu]]

The [[Church of Tuvalu|Congregational Christian Church of Tuvalu]], which is part of the [[Calvinist]] tradition, is the [[state church]] of Tuvalu;<ref name="Tuvalu">{{cite web |url=http://religiousfreedom.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=190&Itemid=56%7ctitle=Tuvalu%7cpublisher= |title=Tuvalu |publisher=religiousfreedom.com |access-date=10 December 2015 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304200135/http://religiousfreedom.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=190&Itemid=56%7Ctitle=Tuvalu%7Cpublisher= |url-status=dead}}</ref> although in practice this merely entitles it to "the privilege of performing special services on major national events".<ref name="usdos">{{cite web |work=United States Department of State |title=2010 Report on International Religious Freedom – Tuvalu |date=17 November 2010 |url=http://www.refworld.org/docid/4cf2d05cc.html |access-date=22 December 2015 |archive-date=26 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926055922/http://www.refworld.org/docid/4cf2d05cc.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Its adherents comprise about 97% of the 10,837 (2012 census) inhabitants of the [[archipelago]].<ref name="Tuvalu"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.reformiert-online.net/adressen/detail.php?id=13338&lg=eng |title=Address data base of Reformed churches and institutions |publisher=reformiert-online.net |access-date=2 July 2015 |archive-date=8 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130708165003/http://www.reformiert-online.net/adressen/detail.php?id=13338&lg=eng |url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Constitution of Tuvalu]] guarantees freedom of religion, including the freedom to practice, the freedom to change religion, the right not to receive religious instruction at school or to attend religious ceremonies at school, and the right not to "take an oath or make an affirmation that is contrary to his religion or belief".<ref>Constitution of Tuvalu, article 23.</ref>

Other Christian groups include the [[Catholic]] community served by the [[Mission Sui Iuris of Funafuti]], and the [[Seventh-day Adventist]] which has 2.8% of the population.<ref name="CIA">{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/tuvalu/ |title=The World Factbook (CIA) |date=20 October 2019 |access-date=11 November 2019 |archive-date=12 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112151520/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/tuvalu/ |url-status=live}}</ref> According to its own estimates, the Tuvalu Brethren Church has about 500 members (i.e. 4.5% of the population).<ref name=report12>{{cite web |work=United States Department of State |title=International Religious Freedom Report 2012: Tuvalu |date=20 May 2013 |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2012/eap/208276.htm |access-date=5 September 2017 |archive-date=20 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230420035610/https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2012/eap/208276.htm |url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Baháʼí Faith]] is the largest minority religion and the largest non-Christian religion in Tuvalu. It constitutes 2.0% of the population.<ref name="CIA" /> The Baháʼís are present on Nanumea,<ref name="state.gov">{{cite web |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2007/90157.htm |title=Tuvalu |access-date=3 December 2019 |archive-date=29 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230329084827/https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2007/90157.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> and Funafuti.<ref name="G23-6">{{cite web |last=Fainu |first=Kalolaine |title=Dancing, feasts and faith mark life on a vanishing island – Tuvalu photo essay |work=[[The Guardian]] |page= |date=27 June 2023 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/27/dancing-feasts-and-faith-mark-life-on-a-vanishing-island-tuvalu-photo-essay |access-date=11 November 2023}}</ref> The [[Ahmadiyya Muslim Community]] consists of about 50 members (0.4% of the population).<ref>{{cite book |title=Religious Diversity in Southeast Asia and the Pacific |url=https://archive.org/details/religiousdiversi00boum |url-access=limited |author1=Gary D. Bouma |author2=Rodney Ling |author3=Douglas Pratt |page=[https://archive.org/details/religiousdiversi00boum/page/n197 198] |date=2010}}</ref>

The introduction of Christianity ended the worship of ancestral spirits and other deities ([[animism]]),<ref name="CHrel">[[#Hedley|Hedley]], pp. 46–52</ref> along with the power of the ''vaka-atua'' (the priests of the old religions).<ref name="Sollas">{{cite journal |author=W. J. Sollas |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/055353a0.pdf |title=The Legendary History of Funafuti |journal=Nature |volume=55 |date=11 February 1897 |pages=353–355 |doi=10.1038/055353a0 |s2cid=4056485 |access-date=4 September 2021 |archive-date=4 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220704055826/https://www.nature.com/articles/055353a0.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> Laumua Kofe describes the objects of worship as varying from island to island, although ancestor worship was described by the Rev. Samuel James Whitmee in 1870 as being common practice.<ref>Kofe, Laumua "Old Time Religion" in ''Tuvalu: A History''</ref>