Radovljica Brezje Bazilika Sv Vida 28082012 011

The dominant religion in Slovenia is

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

, primarily the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

, the largest

Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct Religion, religious body within Christianity that comprises all Church (congregation), church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadersh ...

in the country. Other Christian groups having significant followings in the country include

Eastern Orthodoxy Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonic ...

and

Protestantism Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

(

Lutheranism Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in th ...

and

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

are small minorities in

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

. About 18% of the population are either agnostic or atheist.Slovenia Statistical Office
Population by religion, statistical regions
Census 2002. Religion played a significant role in the development of the Slovenian nation and of the country of Slovenia. After a centuries-long tradition of a

state church A state religion (also called religious state or official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not secular, is not necessarily a t ...

, interrupted by the periods of

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and i ...

(in the 16th century) and post–World War II

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes th ...

(which ousted religion from the public life), a degree of separation of the state and the church has been reached in independent Slovenia. In February 2007 Slovenia passed a new Religious Freedom Act with a bias towards the Catholic Church (particularly in regard to state funding) and strict terms for the registration of new religious communities.

Religion and Beliefs

Christianity

Catholicism

The Catholic Church in Slovenia is part of the worldwide

, under the spiritual leadership of the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. There are around 1,135,626 Catholics in the country (about 57.8% of the total population as per the 2002 Census). The country is divided into six

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...

s, including two

archdiocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

s. The diocese of

Maribor Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, the seat of the Drava sta ...

was elevated to an archdiocese by Pope

Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereig ...

in 2006. Additionally, the pope created three new sees, namely

Novo Mesto Novo Mesto (; sl, Novo mesto; also known by other alternative names) is a city on a bend of the Krka River in the City Municipality of Novo Mesto in southeastern Slovenia, close to the border with Croatia. The town is traditionally considered ...

Celje ) , pushpin_map = Slovenia , pushpin_label_position = left , pushpin_map_caption = Location of the city of Celje in Slovenia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Cou ...

and Murska Sobota.

Protestantism

is tightly-knit with the history of Slovenians, with the Slovenian language having been established in the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

Primož Trubar Primož Trubar or Primus Truber () (1508 – 28 June 1586) was a Slovene Protestant Reformer of the Lutheran tradition, mostly known as the author of the first Slovene language printed book, the founder and the first superintendent of the Prot ...

was a leading early Slovenian author and a Protestant reformer. He contributed to the development of the

Slovenian language Slovene ( or ), or alternatively Slovenian (; or ), is a South Slavic language, a sub-branch that is part of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is spoken by about 2.5 million speakers worldwide (excluding speake ...

and Slovenian culture. The Reformation flourished in the 16th century, accounting for the vast majority of cultural development in Slovenian.

was the most popular Protestant denomination among Slovenians, with minorities, most notably

Calvinism Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John C ...

. Protestantism among Slovenians was aggressively attempted to be wiped out by the

Habsburgs The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

with the

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...

. The Counter-Reformation was heavily deployed to the majority of Slovenian-speaking territory. Means used involved murder, extradition, book-burning and a general ban of the Slovenian language. Excluded were eastern regions (such as Prekmurje), ruled by Hungarian nobility, often

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John C ...

. Historically,

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the ...

had taken up Lutheranism first, before gradually switching to Calvinism. They did not have a policy of extinguishing Lutheranism. Protestantism among Slovenians survived the Counter-Reformation scattered. Protestantism is a minority group of Christian denominations in the Republic of Slovenia today. The largest community of Protestant Slovenians lives in the Prekmurje region, most of them are Lutheran.

Eastern Orthodoxy

maintains a significant presence in the country and is practised in majority by Slovenians of

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also * * * Old Serbian (disambiguation ...

heritage. Eastern Orthodox Christians in Slovenia are under ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Serbian Orthodox Metropolitanate of Zagreb and Ljubljana.

Islam

The

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

s in

are ethnically mostly

Bosniaks The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzeg ...

and ethnic Muslims. In 2014, there were 48,266

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

in Slovenia, making up about 2.4 percent of the total population. The Muslim community of Slovenia is headed by . According to the published data from the 2002 Slovenian census, out of a total of 47,488 Muslims (2.4% of the total population) 2,804 Muslims (5.90% of the total Muslims in Slovenia) declared themselves as ethnic

Slovenian Muslims The Muslims in Slovenia are ethnically mostly Bosniaks and ethnic Muslims. In 2014, there were 48,266 Muslims in Slovenia, making up about 2.4 percent of the total population. The Muslim community of Slovenia is headed by . There are also a fe ...

. There are also Muslims from Central, South and Southeast Asia, who are not counted in the census because they are migrant workers.

Judaism

The small Jewish community of

( sl, Judovska skupnost Slovenije) is estimated at 400 to 600 members, with the Jewish community of Slovenia suggesting 500 to 1000 members. Around 130 are officially registered, most of whom live in the capital,

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

. The Jewish community was devastated by the Shoah, and has never fully recovered. Until 2003,

was the only

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an capital city without a Jewish place of worship.Jewish Virtual Library - Slovenia
/ref>

Hinduism

220 Hindus live in Slovenia, with 70 belonging to the Hindu Religious Community in Slovenia and 150 belonging to the

International Society for Krishna Consciousness The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement or Hare Krishnas, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindu religious organization. ISKCON was founded in 1966 in New York City by A. C. Bhaktiv ...

(Iskcon).

Atheism

A 2010 Eurobarometer poll found that 26% of the population of Slovenia stated that "I don't believe there is any sort of spirit, God or life force". A 2021 World Population Review found that 53% of Slovenians were either non-religious or convinced atheist., title=Most Atheist Countries 2021 , url=https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-atheist-countries

Demographics

Censuses

Religiosity of Slovene citizens according to population censuses 1991, and 2002.

Surveys

* Eurobarometer 2012 found about 68% of the population declaring to be Christian, with 64% being members of the Catholic Church. Members of other Christian denominations made up 4% of the population. *

International Social Survey Programme The International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) is a collaboration between different nations conducting surveys covering topics which are useful for social science research. The ISSP researchers develop questions which are meaningful and relevant ...

2015 found that 64.3% of the population declared to be Christian, with Catholicism being the largest denomination accounting for 62.2% of the respondents, and Eastern Orthodoxy being the second-largest sect comprising 1.5%; members of other Christian denominations made up the 0.6%. A further 34.3% declared to have no religion, and 1.5% declared to belong to other religions.

Religious freedom

Slovenia's laws guarantee the freedom of religion and establish a separation between church and state, as well as prohibiting religious discrimination and religious hatred. Religious groups may easily register with the government in order to receive some privileges, largely consisting of various forms of monetary compensation. Slovenia's laws prohibit circumcision for non-medical reasons and animal slaughtering practices that are necessary for meat to be considered

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...

or halal. Members of the Jewish and Muslim communities observe these practices outside of the country (importing meat, and traveling to neighboring countries for religious circumcision) without obstruction from Slovenia's government.
International Religious Freedom Report 2017 Slovenia
', US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.

References

External links

{{Religion in Europe