Irreligion in Romania
Irreligion in Romania is rare. Romania is one of the most religious countries in Europe,[3] with 92% of people saying that they believe in God.[4] Levels of Irreligion are much lower than in most other European countries and are among the lowest in the world. At the 2011 census, only 0.11% of the population declared itself atheist, up from the 2002 census, while 0.10% do not belong to any religion.[5] While still one of the most religious countries in Europe, practicing, church and mass attendance is quite low, even compared to some less religious countries than Romania. It is mainly practiced by elderly people , mainly in rural areas, while in urban areas church attendance and practice is much lower. As of 2021, almost 85% are declared religious, of which about 73% are declared orthodox, 12% other religions , about 1% atheists or irreligious and about 14% declared nothing about religion.
History
Prior to Romania's independence from the
Marxist atheism became prominent in Romania after the country fell under Communist rule in 1945. The Orthodox Church was severely restricted in its practices, and minor religions were banned entirely. Due to the prevalence of the Orthodox Church in Romanian society, state atheism was not implemented to the extent that it was in many other Communist countries. Instead, the Communist Party prioritized propaganda against religion in favor of Marxist science. Priests were also converted into propagandists and spies for the Communist regime. After the Communist regime fell in 1989, atheism was widely marginalized in Romania due to its associations with the terrors of Communism. Remus Cernea is seen as the leader of freethought and atheist belief in the early 21st century.[6]
Irreligion and atheism tend to be higher in urban areas and well developed cities than in rural areas and lower developed areas.
Demographics
Over 20,700 people in Romania are atheists, according to 2011 census.
Development region | Irreligious | Atheists | Total |
---|---|---|---|
București-Ilfov |
3,295 | 8,517 | 11,812 (0.51%) |
Centru | 5,611 | 2,085 | 7,696 (0.32%) |
Nord-Est | 1,213 | 1,629 | 2,842 (0.08%) |
Nord-Vest | 4,622 | 3,098 | 7,720 (0.29%) |
Sud-Est | 607 | 1,321 | 1,928 (0.07%) |
Sud-Muntenia | 970 | 1,443 | 2,413 (0.07%) |
Sud-Vest Oltenia | 380 | 525 | 905 (0.04%) |
Vest | 2,219 | 2,125 | 4,344 (0.23%) |
Total[13] | 18,917 | 20,743 | 39,660 |
Surveys
Survey/Study | Year | Atheists | Agnostics | Irreligious |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Cambridge Companion to Atheism | 2006 | 4% | ||
Dentsu Inc.[14] | 2006 | 2,4% | ||
WIN/Gallup International[15] | 2014 | 1% | 16% |
Socio-demographic profile
According to a study conducted by researchers from Open Society Foundations, Romanian atheists are a very young group and with a significantly higher level of education that the national average: 53% of atheists are under 30 years, and 33% of them have completed higher education.[16] The group of atheists/agnostics/persons without religion lives in a proportion of 59% in urban areas – in the capital and other major cities – and are easier to find in Wallachia and harder in Moldavia.[16]
Atheists are more intolerant than most Romanians with regard to almost all social groups on which were questioned:
See also
External links
References
- ^ "2011 census results by religion" (xls). www.recensamantromania.ro, website of the Romanian Institute of Statistics. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
- ^ Special Eurobarometer 341 / Wave 73.1 – TNS Opinion & Social (PDF). Brussels. October 2010. p. 204. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-12-15.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ISBN 9783110228151.
- ISBN 978-90-04-29779-1.
- ^ "Ce ne spune recensământul din anul 2011 despre religie?" (PDF). Institutul Național de Statistică. October 2013.
- ^ ISBN 9781032173795.
- ^ "Ateismul în România. Care sunt județele cu cei mai mulți atei". Gândul. 9 October 2013.
- ^ a b c d "Numarul ATEILOR s-a triplat. Cati romani au renuntat la religie?". 9AM. 5 December 2012.
- doi:10.4232/1.10789. Archived from the originalon 2018-09-05. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
- ^ "World Values Survey, 2005". The Association of Religion Data Archives.
- ISBN 9781139827393.
- ^ "Regional & Country Results". WIN/Gallup International. Archived from the original on 2015-11-15. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
- ^ "Religiile Romaniei. Orasul cu cel mai mare procent de atei din tara". InCont.ro.
- ^ "Dentsu Inc" (in Japanese).
- ^ "Q9. Irrespective of whether you attend a place of worship or not, would you say you are?". Romania (PDF). WIN/GIA. 2014. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-04-17. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
- ^ a b "Ateii din Romania sunt tineri, educati si intoleranti". Ziare.com (in Romanian). 18 October 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-11-20. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
- ^ a b c Voicu, Ovidiu (18 October 2011). "Atei în România: puțini, tineri, educați, de dreapta și intoleranți" (PDF). Fundația Soros (in Romanian). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-05-10. Retrieved 2020-06-26.