There is a long and interesting history of
Christianity in
Greenland. It has been a dominant
religion in the island, spreading its roots since the start of its advent a long time ago. At present, around 96% of the total population are
Christians.
When Greenland was a home for Norse settlers, the inception of Christianity into the island took place. Leif the Happy, son of Erik the Red, went on a visit to Norway in 990, where Chribstianity made a great impression on him, and the then king Olaf Trygvesson sent some Christian missionaries with him when he went back to his homeland. The missionaries converted the Norse colonies in Greenland at a very rapid pace, and very soon a Church was set up, along with a few monasteries. Catholicism thus began its advent in Greenland, a reign which would end in the 1530's.
Christianity in Greenland has undergone a number of changes since then. It deteriorated over ages because of intervention and intermarriage among the Christian Norse community and the more Pagan Eskimos or the Inuit. This development was severely detrimental to Christianity, and the religion slowly dissolved and gave way to Pagan practices.
After a disappearance, Christianity came back to Greenland in the form of Protestantism. Norwegian Lutheran pries Hans Egede founded the city of Nuuk. The advent of Protestantism started from then on, and is still continuing. The form has changed somewhat, with Evangelical Lutheran being the most followed religion in Greenland.
