Tunisia - (Africa)
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Information about Tunisia

The city of Tunis was built near the ruins of Carthage, which was an important center of the early Christian church. Christianity was extinguished in this area by the Arabs by the 12th century.
After 1574 the country became a part of the Ottoman Empire and was governed by a bey. From 1881 to 1956 Tunisia was a French protectorate. Subsequently a republic was set up in 1957 with Bourguiba as president. Islam became the official religion. The government of Tunisia is not favorable toward foreign missions. Open evangelism is now forbidden.
The London Society for Promoting Christianity among the Jews came to North Africa in 1829. The North African Mission, which began working in Tunisia in 1882 and focused mainly on the sale of Bibles, reported some 25 members by 1962. Ref Christians of the French Prot Church have worshiped in Tunisia since 1881 as the result of the work of a French army chaplain. American Meth became active in 1908. Pent arrived in 1912 and in 1957 formed a church with less than thirty members; they no longer have an active presence in Tunisia. St. George’s Angl Church has a membership of around 80.
Before the 19th century the RCath Church had made several attempts to establish itself in Tunisia. Between 1820 and 1830 the RCath community counted 2,000 members; it grew to 20,000 by 1860 and 1870. After 1881, when Tunisia had become a French protectorate, the RCath began to expand under the guidance of Archbishop Lavigerie. This growth was largely due to a major influx of European Catholics. Once Tunisia became a republic in 1957, the Catholic Church agreed to close and turn over to the state all but five of its seventy church buildings, together with its cathedral, which became a museum. Thereafter a type of dialogue ensued with Islam.

Churches

• Eglise Reformee de Tunisie
  Reformed Church in Tunisia ERT