500 years ago in August 1526, the Spanish navigator Alonso de Salazar made the first recorded European sighting of an island in what is now the Republic of the Marshall Islands, probably Bokak Atoll. But this was not the so-called “discovery” of an empty land. The indigenous name for the island group is Aelōn̄ Kein Ad (these islands of ours), often poetically referred to as Jolet jen Anij (gifts from God).
Archaeological evidence shows human settlement on several of the Marshall Islands going back around 2,000 years, to approximately the first century AD. Some scholars have proposed even earlier dates for individual finds, though these remain debated. By the time Europeans arrived, generations of Marshallese had long since developed their own culture and society in this extraordinary Pacific environment.
The Marshallese remain the overwhelming majority of the population and the principal bearers of the country’s political, cultural, and religious life.
Today, unlike the indigenous peoples of many former colonies, the Marshallese remain the overwhelming majority of the population and the principal bearers of the country’s political, cultural, and religious life. Marshallese traditions continue to shape society, including its matrilineal structures (heritage and inheritance via the mother's family line) and the traditional authority of the Iroij, whose role is formally recognized in the constitutional system through the Council of Iroij.
Having just had the privilege of visiting the Marshall Islands myself, here I reflect on this long history and, above all, on what the Marshallese people have built as an independent nation. This is helpful for us to understand the wonderful impact of freedom of religious belief and widespread Christian faith on the indigenous people of a relatively isolated island nation.
A small but remarkably stable democracy.
The Republic of the Marshall Islands is today a small but remarkably stable democracy. In 2026, it also marks 40 years of independence: on 21 October 1986, the Compact of Free Association entered into force and the Republic became a sovereign state.
Freedom House rates the country “Free” with 93 out of 100 points, describing it as a stable democracy with regular competitive elections, an independent judiciary and a free press. Freedom of expression, assembly, association, and religion are constitutionally protected, and citizens choose their representatives in free and fair elections.
A strong Bill of Rights protecting freedom of thought, conscience, belief, speech, press, religion, peaceful assembly, and association.
For someone committed to human rights and particularly to freedom of religion or belief, this deserves recognition. The Marshallese Constitution contains a strong Bill of Rights protecting freedom of thought, conscience, belief, speech, press, religion, peaceful assembly, and association, as well as equality before the law and protection against religious discrimination.
Let me make these congratulations more personal. I extend my warm congratulations to H.E. Dr. Hilda C. Heine, President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands and both Head of State and Head of Government, and to the Hon. Brenson S. Wase, Speaker of the Nitijela, the Parliament of the Marshall Islands.
Through them, I congratulate all those who carry political and public responsibility for a nation that has succeeded in combining its distinctive Marshallese identity and traditions with constitutional government, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.
Impressed by the deeply Christian character of Marshallese society.
I was equally impressed by the deeply Christian character of Marshallese society. Christianity has become an integral part of the country's history and identity, while constitutional religious freedom protects those who belong to other faiths or to none.
Almost all indigenous Marshallese are Christians. Churches are not merely places of worship; they are important institutions of community life, education and social responsibility. Christian prayer remains a natural part of many public occasions.
There is much to honor in the Marshall Islands today: a proud indigenous culture, a functioning democracy, extensive civil and political freedoms, a strong Christian heritage and a people who have preserved their identity through colonial rule, war, nuclear testing and the challenges of independence.
At the same time, looking back over centuries of encounter with the wider world inevitably raises the question of the centuries ahead.
Few countries make the threat of rising sea levels as tangible as the Marshall Islands.
Few countries make the threat of rising sea levels as tangible as the Marshall Islands. The islands sit on average only about two meters above sea level. The World Bank regards the country as among those most vulnerable to climate change and sea-level rise; a rise of one meter could inundate an estimated 80 percent of the land in Majuro, the atoll supporting the nation’s largest urban center.
Standing on these narrow atolls, the issue ceases to be an abstract discussion about climate policy. You can literally see the ocean on both sides. For the Marshallese people, rising seas threaten homes, churches, graves, cultural heritage and ultimately the physical territory of their nation.
How will their prayerful trust in God for their survival of be answered?
Five hundred years after Europeans first recorded these islands on their maps, the world has a responsibility to ensure that they do not disappear from those maps. For these people who are so committed to freedom, how will their prayerful trust in God for their survival of be answered?
In this 40th year of independence, I congratulate the people, government, and churches of the Republic of the Marshall Islands on four decades of sovereign statehood and on the democratic, free, and deeply rooted society they have built. At the same time, I hope that future generations will still be able to live, worship, and govern themselves on the islands their ancestors have called home for at least two thousand years.
Archbishop and Professor Thomas Paul Schirrmacher is the President of both the International Council of the International Society for Human Rights in Frankfurt and the International Institute for Religious Freedom in Costa Rica and Bonn. He was Secretary General of the World Evangelical Alliance from 2021 to 2024. Prior to this, he served the WEA for 25 years in various roles, including Associate Secretary General for Theological Concerns and Intrafaith and Interfaith Relations. He travels to over 50 countries a year, meeting heads of state and government, religious leaders, and heads of churches of all confessions on behalf of the persecuted church, as well as fighting human trafficking and corruption.
The International Institute for Religious Freedom (IIRF) was founded in 2005 with the mission to promote religious freedom for all faiths from an academic perspective. The IIRF aspires to be an authoritative voice on religious freedom. They provide reliable and unbiased data on religious freedom—beyond anecdotal evidence—to strengthen academic research on the topic and to inform public policy at all levels. The IIRF's research results are disseminated through the International Journal for Religious Freedom and other publications. A particular emphasis of the IIRF is to encourage the study of religious freedom in tertiary institutions through its inclusion in educational curricula and by supporting postgraduate students with research projects.
