Christianity in Ivory Coast

[3] Although Ivory Coast is officially a secular state, the president expressed pride in Abidjan's large Catholic cathedral and alone funded construction of a basilica at Yamoussoukro, his birthplace, by 1990.

[3] A decade later, Methodist missionaries made contact with Harris and attempted to continue his work among the lagoon peoples.

[3] Harris succeeded in part because of his ethnic background—he was African but not Ivoirian—but also because he converted women as well as men—a practice that had been scorned by earlier Christian missionaries who failed to recognize the impact of matrilineal descent on an individual's spiritual life.

[3] Most widely recognized among the syncretic religions of the country are numerous offshoots of Harrism along the coast, where new prophets, preachers, and disciples blend traditional beliefs, Harrism, and modern-day political advice to help deal with the problems of everyday life.

[3] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints claims more than 43,000 members in 211 wards or branches in Cote d'Ivoire.