Religion in Slovakia (Redirected from Christianity in Slovakia)

Religion in Slovakia (2021)

 Catholicism (59.8%)
 Unaffiliated (23.8%)
 Protestantism and other Christians (9.0%)
 Undeclared (6.5%)
 Other religions (1.2%)
St. Elisabeth's Cathedral in Košice.

Religion in Slovakia is predominantly Christianity, adhered to by about 68.8% of the population in 2021, a decrease from 75.5% in 2011 and 83.8% in 2001.

Catholicism is the major Christian tradition in the country, followed in 2021 by 59.8% of the population, a majority of whom (55.8%) were of the Roman Catholic Church and a minority of whom (4%) were of the Slovak Greek Catholic Church. About 9% of the population were mostly followers of Protestantism, and a minority of Eastern Orthodox Christianity and other Christian denominations; the major groupings are the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovakia (5.3%), the Reformed Christian Church in Slovakia (1.6%), the Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church (0.9%), the Jehovah's Witnesses (0.3%), and other smaller Christian denominations (0.9%). In 2021, about 23.8% of the population declared themselves not religious, an increase from 13.4% in 2011. An additional 1.2% of the population were followers of other religions or beliefs; small religious minorities in Slovakia include Buddhism, modern Paganism, Islam, Judaism, Jediism, Hinduism, Pastafarianism and others.

Demographics

Census statistics, 1900 - 2021

Religious affiliations in Slovakia, census 1900 - 2021
Religion 1900 1910 1921 1930 1950 1991 2001 2011 2021
Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
Christianity 2,640,996 94.9 2,776,658 95.2 2,847,160 95.1 3,164,448 95.2 3,414,440 99.2 3,833,943 72.8 4,513,025 83.8 4,073,833 75.5 3,747,558 68.8
Catholicism 2,098,326 75.4 2,225,410 76.3 2,317,247 77.4 2,592,720 78.0 2,848,693 82.8 3,366,116 63.8 3,927,951 73.0 3,554,148 65.9 3,256,746 59.8
——Roman Catholic Church 1,900,738 68.3 2,027,077 69.5 2,122,646 70.9 2,379,984 71.6 2,623,198 76.2 3,187,383 60.4 3,708,120 68.9 3,347,277 62.0 3,038,511 55.8
——Slovak Greek Catholic Church 197,588 7.1 198,333 6.8 194,601 6.5 212,736 6.4 225,495 6.6 178,733 3.4 219,831 4.1 206,871 3.8 218,235 4.0
Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovakia 392,392 14.1 393,749 13.5 383,214 12.8 398,880 12.0 443,251 12.9 326,397 6.2 372,858 6.9 316,250 5.9 286,907 5.3
Reformed Christian Church in Slovakia 150,278 5.4 157,499 5.4 143,705 4.8 146,256 4.4 111,696 3.2 82,545 1.6 109,735 2.0 98,797 1.8 85,271 1.6
Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church 2,994 0.1 9,972 0.3 7,975 0.2 34,376 0.7 50,363 0.9 49,133 0.9 50,677 0.9
Jehovah's Witnesses 10,501 0.2 20,630 0.4 17,222 0.3 16,416 0.3
—Other Christians 16,620 0.5 2,825 0.1 14,008 0.3 31,488 0.6 38,283 0.7 51,541 0.9
Buddhism 2,530 0.05 6,722 0.1
Paganism 4,007 0.1
Islam 1,934 0.04 3,862 0.07
Judaism 141,929 5.1 140,000 4.8 134,724 4.5 136,284 4.1 7,476 0.2 912 0.02 2,310 0.04 1,999 0.04 2,007 0.04
Jediism 1,389 0.03
Hinduism 255 0.01 975 0.02
Pastafarianism 590 0.01
Other religion 10,722 0.3 6,094 0.1 6,214 0.1 19,686 0.4 32,171 0.6
No religion 11,975 0.4 16,620 0.5 9,679 0.3 515,551 9.8 697,308 13.0 725,362 13.4 1,296,142 23.8
Not stated 6,648 0.2 917,835 17.3 160,598 3.0 571,437 10.6 353,797 6.5
Total population 2,782,925 2,916,657 2,993,859 3,324,000 3,442,317 5,274,335 5,379,455 5,397,036 5,449,270
Geographic distribution of religions in Slovakia
2001 census
2011 census

Line chart of the trends, 1900 - 2021

Census statistics 1900 - 2021:

 Protestantism and other Christians
 Other religion
 No religion
 Not stated

Religions

Christianity

According to the 2021 census, Christianity was the religion of 68.8% of the population of Slovakia, of whom 59.8% were Catholics (55.8% adherents of the Roman Catholics and 4% of the Slovak Greek Catholic Church), 5.3% were adherents of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovakia, 1.6% of the Reformed Christian Church in Slovakia, 0.9% of the Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church, 0.3% were Jehovah's Witnesses, and another 0.9% were followers of other Christian denominations. In Slovakia there are also small numbers of adherents of various other Christian denominations, including Adventism, Apostolic Pentecostalism, Baptists, Brethren, Hussitism, Irvingism (New Apostolicism), Methodism and Old Catholicism.

Other religions

Minority religions in Slovakia, according to the 2021 census, included 6,722 adherents of Buddhism (0.1% of the population), 3,862 adherents of Islam (0.1%), 2,007 adherents of Judaism (<0.1%), 1,389 adherents of Jediism (<0.1%), and even smaller minorities of people professing Hindusim, Pastafarianism, the Baháʼí Faith and other religions. There are organisations of practitioners of Slavic Rodnovery in Slovakia, part of the 0.1% of the population (4,007 people) who in the 2021 census identified themselves as Pagans. Rodnover organisations in the country include the Native Circle (Rodný Kruh), whose leader, Miroslav "Žiarislav" Švitsky, initiated in 2001 one of the most influential leaders of Czech Rodnovery, Richard Bigl. Other groups are the Holy Grove of Native Faith (Svätoháj Rodnej Viery), and the Civic Association Tartaria (Občianske združenie Tartaria), which caters to followers of the Rodnover doctrine of Ynglism. Another Pagan religion present in the country is Mesopotamian Zuism; some members of the Slovak Zuist community were also involved in the development of the Icelandic church of the movement.

Legislation and freedom of religion

The laws of Slovakia guarantee the freedom of religious belief and criminalise the defamation of and discrimination against religious groups. Religious groups may register with the government in order to receive certain privileges, but the threshold of membership required for new groups to register is high, 50,000 members. In the past, government officials have explicitly stated that preventing Islamic organizations from registering is a reason for this requirement, and Muslims are registered as a civic association. In 2022, the Public Defender of Rights (ombudsperson) stated that the registration requirements were unreasonable, discriminatory, and unnecessary; the Ministry of Culture refused to initiate a legal change.

According to non-governmental organisations and unregistered religious groups, negative attitudes toward unregistered religious groups are common, and hate speech online against religious minorities, especially represented by refugees, is frequent. Politicians from far-right parties in the National Council, the legislative organ of Slovakia, frequently espouse Islamophobic and antisemitic ideas and conspiracy theories, and some of them have faced censure as a consequence of their violation of laws against the propagation of extremist materials and against affiliation with groups dedicated to the suppression of fundamental rights and freedoms. In 2022, some members of the Kotlebovci - Ludova strana Nase Slovensko (Kotleba’s - People’s Party Our Slovakia) (LSNS) and Republika parties were prosecuted for defaming minority religious beliefs and denying the Holocaust.

In 2023, the country was scored 4 out of 4 for religious freedom.

See also

Media related to Religion in Slovakia at Wikimedia Commons


This page was last updated at 2023-10-25 13:18 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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