RELIGION IN EUROPE

'Religion in Europe' has a rich and diverse religious history, and its various faiths have been a major influence on European art, culture, philosophy and law. The majority of Europeans are Christian, of which nearly half are Catholic; the second-largest religion in Europe is Islam, followed by Judaism, but both of them in smaller numbers. Europe also has the largest number and proportion of irreligious, agnostic and atheistic people in the Western world, with a particularly high number of self-described non-religious people in Scandinavia.

Contents

History

Religiosity

Modern religions

Christianity

Judaism

Islam

Other

References

See also

History

Little is known about the prehistoric religion of Neolithic Europe. Bronze and Iron Age religion in Europe as elsewhere was predominantly polytheistic (Ancient Greek religion, Ancient Roman religion, Celtic polytheism, Germanic paganism etc.). The Roman Empire officially adopted Christianity in AD 380. During the Early Middle Ages, most of Europe underwent Christianization, a process essentially complete with the Christianization of Scandinavia in the High Middle Ages. The emergence of the notion of "Europe" or "Western World" is intimately connected with the idea of "Christendom", especially since Christianity in the Middle East was marginalized by the rise of Islam from the 8th century, a constellation that led to the Crusades, which although unsuccessful militarily were an important step in the emergence of a religious identity of Europe. At all times, traditions of folk religion existed largely independent from official denomination or dogmatic theology.
The Great Schism of the 11th and Reformation of the 16th century were to tear apart "Christendom" into hostile factions, and following the Age of Enlightenment of the 18th century, atheism and agnosticism became widespread in Western Europe. 19th century Orientalism contributed to a certain popularity of Buddhism, and the 20th century brought increasing syncretism, New Age and various new religious movements divorcing spirituality from inherited traditions for many Europeans. The latest history brought increased secularisation, and religious pluralism. ^[1]

Religiosity

Today, theism is losing prevalence in Europe. European countries have experienced a decline in Church attendance, as well as a decline in the number of people professing a belief in God, particularly in Protestant Europe. The 2005 Eurobarometer poll^[2] found that 52% of the citizens of EU member state that they believe in God. 18% express positive atheism, while the remaining 30% fall under various "nontheisms". According to a recent study (Dogan, Mattei, Religious Beliefs in Europe: Factors of Accelerated Decline), 47% of Frenchman declared themselves as agnostic in 2003.
This situation is often called "Post-Christian Europe". A decrease in religiousness and church attendance in western Europe (especially France, Germany and Sweden) has been noted, but in contrary to it, there is an increase in Eastern Europe, especially in Greece and Romania (2% in 1 year).

The following is a list of Christian European countries ranked by religiosity, based on belief in God, according to the World Values Survey.^[3] The 2005 Eurobarometer poll allowed for a "some spirit or life force" option besides "belief in God", while WVS asked "do you believe in God" as a yes-or-no question. In parentheses is the form of Christianity prevalent in the country.

★ Malta (Catholic) 99.1% (Eurobarometer: 95%)

★ Poland (Catholic) 96.2% (Eurobarometer: 80%)

★ Ireland (Catholic) 93.7% (Eurobarometer: 73%)

★ Moldova (Orthodox) 91.8%

★ Romania (Orthodox) 91.6% (Eurobarometer: 90%)

★ Croatia (Catholic) 91.4% (Eurobarometer: 67%)

★ Italy (Catholic) 87.8% (Eurobarometer: 74%)

★ Portugal (Catholic) 84.0% (Eurobarometer: 81%)

★ Greece (Orthodox) 83.7% (Eurobarometer: 81%)

★ Austria (Catholic) 82.7% (Eurobarometer: 54%)

★ Bulgaria (Orthodox) 82.6% (Eurobarometer: 40%)

★ Spain (Catholic) 78.4% (Eurobarometer: 59%)

★ Iceland (Protestant) 76.9% (Eurobarometer: 38%)

★ Switzerland (Catholic/Protestant) 76.4% (Eurobarometer: 48%)

★ Slovakia (Catholic) 75.9%

★ Finland (Protestant) 73.8%

★ Serbia (Orthodox) 72.9%

★ Montenegro (Orthodox) 72.4%

★ Belarus (Orthodox) 72.2%

★ Latvia (Balanced) 70.1%

★ Lithuania (Catholic) 69.9%

★ Ukraine (Orthodox) 69.1%

★ Luxembourg (Catholic) 68%

★ Belgium (Catholic) 65.9%

★ Norway (Protestant) 65.1%

★ Hungary (Mostly Catholic) 64.9%

★ Slovenia (Catholic) 62.1%

★ Denmark (Protestant) 62.1%

★ United Kingdom (Mostly Protestant) 60.6%

★ Russia (Orthodox) 59.3%

★ Netherlands (Catholic/Protestant) 58%

★ France (Catholic) 56.1%

★ Germany (Catholic/Protestant) 49.5%

★ Sweden (Protestant) 46.6% (Eurobarometer: 23%)

★ Estonia (Protestant/Orthodox) 41.0% (Eurobarometer: 16%)

★ Czech Republic (Catholic) 33.1% (Eurobarometer: 19%)
The decrease in theism is illustrated in the 1981 and 1999 WVS results, both for traditionally strongly theist countries (Spain: 86.8%:81.1%; Ireland 94.8%:93.7%) and for traditionally secular countries (Sweden: 51.9%:46.6%, France 61.8%:56.1%, Netherlands 65.3%:58.0%). Some countries nevertheless show slight increase of theism over the period, Italy 84.1%:87.8%, Denmark 57.8%:62.1%. For a comprehensive study on Europe, see Mattei Dogan's "Religious Beliefs in Europe: Factors of Accelerated Decline" in ''Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion''.

Modern religions

Christianity

The vast majority of religious Europeans are Christians, divided into a large number of denominations. Roman Catholicism has about 236 million adherents (32%), mostly in Latin Europe, Ireland and the Visegrád Group, but also the southern parts of Germanic Europe. Protestantism and Eastern Orthodoxy are divided into many churches, the largest of which are:

★ Eastern Orthodoxy

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★ Albanian Orthodox Church

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★ Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church

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★ Bulgarian Orthodox Church

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★ Church of Greece

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★ Romanian Orthodox Church

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★ Russian Orthodox Church

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★ Serbian Orthodox Church

★ Protestantism (see list of Reformed churches)

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★ Lutheranism-Zwinglianism

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★ Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church

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★ Evangelical Lutheran Church—Synod of France and Belgium

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★ Reformed Church in Hungary

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★ Swiss Reformed Church

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★ Anglicanism

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★ Church of England

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★ Scottish Episcopal Church

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★ Calvinism-Presbyterianism

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★ United Reformed Church

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★ Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales

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★ Church of Scotland

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★ Presbyterian Church in Ireland

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★ Methodist Church of Great Britain

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★ Anabaptism-Baptism

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★ Baptist Union of Great Britain

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★ Baptist Union of Sweden

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★ Bruderhof Communities

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★ Seventh-day Adventist Church
There are numerous minor Protestant movements, including various Evangelicalist congregations, Jehova's Witnesses and others.

Judaism

The Jews were dispersed within the Roman Empire from the 2nd century. Throughout the Middle Ages, Jews were frequently accused of ritual murder and faced pogroms and legal discrimination. The Holocaust perpetrated by Nazi Germany decimated Jewish population, and today, France (1% of the French population, or 4.16% of the worldwide Jewish population) is the one and only European country with a Jewish population in excess of 0.5% of the total population.

Islam

Except for the Balkans region that was formerly part of the Ottoman Empire, and the Iberian Peninsula which was part of the Arab Empire before the Reconquista, Europe has no Islamic tradition. The Muslim population in Europe today is mostly a result of migration accounting for between 8 and 9.6 per cent of the population in France, 5.8 per cent in the Netherlands, 5 per cent in Denmark, just over 4 per cent in Switzerland and Austria, and almost 3 per cent in the United Kingdom.^[4] In the Balkans, Muslims make up 70 per cent of the population of Albania, 40 per cent in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 30 per cent in Macedonia and 94 per cent in Turkey.

Other

Small minorities in Europe follow Buddhism, Hinduism (an estimated 0.2%-0.3% each) or various new religious movements such as polytheistic reconstructionism.
For example, in Germany, Buddhists account for 0.28%, Hindus for 0.10%, and various other non-Christian new religious movements for 0.15%.^[5]

References

1. Henkel, Reinhard and Hans Knippenberg "The Changing Religious Landscape of Europe" edited by Knippenberg published by Het Spinhuis, Amsterdam 2005 ISBN 9055892483, pages 7-9
2. http://europa.eu.int/comm/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_225_report_en.pdf
3. World Values Survey, Religion and morale: Believe in God. Accessed 2007-07-25
4. Muslims in Europe: Country guide, BBC News, 23 December 2005, accessed 3 May 2007
5. REMIS (2006)

See also

★ Religion in the European Union

★ Major world religions

★ African religions

★ Religion in Asia

★ Religion in North America