Religion in Slovakia (2021)[1]

  Roman Catholicism (55.8%)
  Greek Catholicism (4.0%)
  Protestantism and other Christians (9.0%)
  Other religions (1.2%)
  Unaffiliated (23.8%)
  Undeclared (6.5%)
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.[1]

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.[1] 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%).[1] In 2021, about 23.8% of the population declared themselves not religious, an increase from 13.4% in 2011.[1] 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.[1]

Demographics

Census statistics, 1900 - 2021

Religious affiliations in Slovakia, census 1900 - 2021[1]
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[1]
2001 census
2011 census

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.
  Catholicism
  Protestantism and other Christians
  Judaism
  Other religion
  No religion
  Not stated

Religions

Christianity

Main articles: Catholic Church in Slovakia, Slovak Greek Catholic Church, Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovakia, and Reformed Christian Church in Slovakia

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.[1] 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.[1]

Other religions

Main articles: Buddhism in Slovakia, Hinduism in Slovakia, History of the Jews in Slovakia, and Islam in Slovakia

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.[1] 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.[1] 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.[2] Other groups are the Holy Grove of Native Faith (Svätoháj Rodnej Viery),[3] and the Civic Association Tartaria (Občianske združenie Tartaria), which caters to followers of the Rodnover doctrine of Ynglism.[4] 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.[5]

Legislation and freedom of religion

Main article: Freedom of religion in Slovakia

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 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.[7] 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.[6] 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.[7]

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

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ Mačuda 2014, p. 105, note 13.
  3. ^ Petrović 2013, p. 11.
  4. ^ "Občianske združenie Tartaria". Archived from the original on 28 August 2021.
  5. ^ Þóra Birna Ingvarsdóttir (26 February 2022). "Markmiðið að byggja bænahús" [The goal is to build a house of prayer]. Morgunblaðið.
  6. ^ a b "International Religious Freedom Report for 2015 - Slovak Republic". United States Department of State. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  7. ^ a b c d US State Dept 2022 report
  8. ^ Freedom House website, Slovakia page, retrieved 2023-08-08

Sources

Category