Religion in Slovakia
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.[1]
Demographics
Census statistics, 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 |
Line chart of the trends, 1900 - 2021
Census statistics 1900 - 2021:[1]
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Religions
Christianity
According to the 2021 census,
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The iconic Roman Catholic Church of Saint Elizabeth, commonly known as Blue Church, in Bratislava.
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Greek Catholic wooden Church of Saint Paraskeva in Potoky, Prešov Region.
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Evangelical Lutheran wooden church of Svätý Kríž, Žilina Region.
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Orthodox Christian church in Hrabová Roztoka, Prešov Region.
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Kingdom hallof the Jehovah's Witnesses in Bratislava.
Other religions
Minority religions in Slovakia, according to the 2021 census, included 6,722 adherents of
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Jewish synagogue of Trenčín.
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Rodnover shrine on the holy Smrečník hill near Kremnica, Banská Bystrica Region.
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,[6] and Muslims are registered as a civic association.[7] 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.[7] As of 2024 new Slovak government is considering to add Christianity as state religion to the constitution.
According to
In 2023, the country was scored 4 out of 4 for religious freedom.[8]
See also
Media related to Religion in Slovakia at Wikimedia Commons
References
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Official data from the censuses of Slovakia:
- Očovský, Štefan (1993). "Vývoj religióznej štruktúry obyvateľstva na Slovensku pri sčítaniach ľudu v rokoch 1900, 1910, 1921, 1930, 1950 a 1991" [Development of the religious structure of the population in Slovakia in the censuses of 1900, 1910, 1921, 1930, 1950 and 1991] (PDF). Geografický časopis. 45 (2–3). Slovak Academy of Sciences. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 January 2022.
- "Cirkvi a náboženské spoločnosti – sčítanie 1950, 1991, 2001, 2011" [Churches and religious societies – census 1950, 1991, 2001, 2011] (PDF). Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 January 2022.
- "Obyvateľstvo SR podľa náboženského vyznania - sčítanie 1991, 2001, 2011" [Population of the Slovak Republic by religion - census 1991, 2001, 2011] (PDF). Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 January 2022.
- Takáč, Adam. "Sčítanie obyvateľstva v roku 2021" [Population census of 2021]. Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic.
- "Počet obyvateľov podľa náboženského vyznania v SR k 1. 1. 2021" [Population by religion in the Slovak Republic as of 1 January 2021]. Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic. Archived from the original on 20 January 2022.
- ^ Mačuda 2014, p. 105, note 13.
- ^ Petrović 2013, p. 11.
- ^ "Občianske združenie Tartaria". Archived from the original on 28 August 2021.
- ^ Þóra Birna Ingvarsdóttir (26 February 2022). "Markmiðið að byggja bænahús" [The goal is to build a house of prayer]. Morgunblaðið.
- ^ a b "International Religious Freedom Report for 2015 - Slovak Republic". United States Department of State. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ a b c d US State Dept 2022 report
- ^ Freedom House website, Slovakia page, retrieved 2023-08-08
Sources
- Mačuda, Jiří (2014). "Чешская община 'Родная вера' – возвращение к духовности предков" [The Czech community 'Rodná víra' – a return to the spirituality of the ancestors]. Colloquium Heptaplomeres (in Russian). I. Nizhny Novgorod: Minin University: 101–109. ISSN 2312-1696.
- Petrović, Milan (2013). "Qualification of Slavic Rodnovery in scientific literature – neopaganism or ethnic religion" (PDF). Serbia: Svevlad Association of the Ecological and Ethnological Cultural Centre "Sfera". Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 July 2017.