Jump to content

State religion

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from State churches)

Confessional states[a]
  Non-denominational Christianity
  Roman Catholicism
  Eastern Orthodoxy
  Protestantism
  Non-denominational Islam
  Sunni Islam
  Shia Islam
  Buddhism
  None (Secularism)
Freedom of religion
Concepts
Status by country
Africa
North and South America
Asia
Europe
Middle East
Oceania
Topical
Religious persecution
Religion portal
Part of a series on
Discrimination
Forms
Attributes
Social
Religious
Ethnic/national
Manifestations
Policies
Countermeasures
Related topics

A state religion (also called 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 a secular state, is not necessarily a theocracy. State religions are official or government-sanctioned establishments of a religion, but the state does not need to be under the control of the clergy (as in a theocracy), nor is the state-sanctioned religion necessarily under the control of the state.

Official religions have been known throughout human history in almost all types of cultures, reaching into the Ancient Near East and prehistory. The relation of religious cult and the state was discussed by the ancient Latin scholar Marcus Terentius Varro, under the term of theologia civilis (lit. 'civic theology'). The first state-sponsored Christian denomination was the Armenian Apostolic Church, established in 301 CE.[28] In Christianity, as the term church is typically applied to a place of worship for Christians or organizations incorporating such ones, the term state church is associated with Christianity as sanctioned by the government, historically the state church of the Roman Empire in the last centuries of the Empire's existence, and is sometimes used to denote a specific modern national branch of Christianity. Closely related to state churches are ecclesiae, which are similar but carry a more minor connotation.

In the Middle East, the majority of states with a predominantly Muslim population have Islam as their official religion, though the degree of religious restrictions on citizens' everyday lives varies by country. Rulers of Saudi Arabia use religious power, while Iran's secular presidents are supposed to follow the decisions of religious authorities since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Turkey, which also has Muslim-majority population, became a secular country after Atatürk's Reforms, although unlike the Russian Revolution of the same time period, it did not result in the adoption of state atheism.

The degree to which an official national religion is imposed upon citizens by the state in contemporary society varies considerably; from high as in Saudi Arabia and Iran, to none at all as in Greenland, Denmark, England, Iceland, and Greece (in Europe, the state religion might be called in English, the established church).

Types

[edit]

The degree and nature of state backing for denomination or creed designated as a state religion can vary. It can range from mere endorsement (with or without financial support) with freedom for other faiths to practice, to prohibiting any competing religious body from operating and to persecuting the followers of other sects.[29] In Europe, competition between Catholic and Protestant denominations for state sponsorship in the 16th century evolved the principle Cuius regio, eius religio (states follow the religion of the ruler) embodied in the text of the treaty that marked the Peace of Augsburg in 1555. In England, Henry VIII broke with Rome in 1534, being declared the Supreme Head of the Church of England,[b] the official religion of England continued to be "Catholicism without the Pope" until after his death in 1547.[31]

In some cases, an administrative region may sponsor and fund a set of religious denominations; such is the case in Alsace-Moselle in France under its local law, following the pre-1905 French concordatory legal system and patterns in Germany.[32]

State churches

[edit]
Westminster Abbey is responsible directly to the British monarch. The Church of England is the established church in England.

A state church (or "established church") is a state religion established by a state for use exclusively by that state. In the case of a state church, the state has absolute control over the church, but in the case of a state religion, the church is ruled by an exterior body; for example, in the case of Catholicism, the Vatican has control over the church. As of 2024, there are only five state churches left.[33]

Disestablishment

[edit]
Further information: Secular state

Disestablishment is the process of repealing a church's status as an organ of the state. In a state where an established church is in place, opposition to such a move may be described as antidisestablishmentarianism. This word is, however, most usually associated with the debate on the position of the Anglican Communion in the British Isles: the Church of Ireland (disestablished in 1871), the Church in Wales (disestablished in 1920), and the Church of England itself (which remains established in England).[citation needed]

Current states with a state religion

[edit]

Buddhism

[edit]

Governments where Buddhism, either a specific form of it, or Buddhism as a whole, has been established as an official religion:

  • Bhutan Bhutan: The Constitution defines Buddhism as the "spiritual heritage of Bhutan". The Constitution of Bhutan is based on Buddhist philosophy.[34] It also mandates that the Druk Gyalpo (King) should appoint the Je Khenpo and Dratshang Lhentshog (The Commission for Monastic Affairs).[35]
  • Cambodia Cambodia: The Constitution declared Buddhism as the official religion of the country.[36] About 98% of Cambodia's population is Buddhist.[37]
  • Myanmar Myanmar: Section 361 of the Constitution states that "The Union recognizes special position of Buddhism as the faith professed by the great majority of the citizens of the Union."[38] The 1961 State Religion Promotion and Support Act requires : to teach Buddhist lessons in schools, to give priority to Buddhist monasteries in founding of primary schools, to make Uposatha days holidays during Vassa months, to broadcast Buddhist sermons by State media on Uposatha days, and other promotion and supports for Buddhism as State Religion.[39]
  • Sri Lanka Sri Lanka: The constitution of Sri Lanka states under Chapter II, Article 9, "The Republic of Sri Lanka declares Buddhism as the state religion and accordingly it shall be the duty of the Head of State and Head of Government to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana".[40]

In some countries, Buddhism is not recognized as a state religion, but holds special status:

  • Thailand Thailand: Article 67 of the Thai constitution: "The State should support and protect Buddhism". In supporting and protecting Buddhism, the State should promote and support education and dissemination of dharmic principles of Theravada Buddhism, and shall have measures and mechanisms to prevent Buddhism from being undermined in any form. The State should also encourage Buddhists to participate in implementing such measures or mechanisms.[41]
  • Laos Laos: According to the Lao Constitution, Buddhism is given special privilege in the country. The state respects and protects all the lawful activities of Buddhism.[42]
  • Kalmykia Kalmykia (Russia): The local Government supports Buddhism and also encourages Buddhist teachings and traditions. It also builds various Buddhist temples and sites. Various efforts are taken by the Government for the revival of Buddhism in the republic.[43][44][45]

Christianity

[edit]
Main articles: Christian state, Christian republic, Christianity and politics, Christian democracy, Christian nationalism, and Christendom

The following states recognize some form of Christianity as their state or official religion or recognize a special status for it (by denomination):

Non-denominational Christianity

[edit]
  •  Samoa: In June 2017, Parliament voted to amend the wording of Article 1 of the constitution, thereby making Christianity the state religion. Part 1, Section (1)(3) reads "Samoa is a Christian nation founded on God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit." The status of the religion had previously only been mentioned in the preamble, which Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi considered legally inadequate.[46][47]
  •  Zambia: The preamble to the Zambian Constitution of 1991 declares Zambia to be "a Christian nation", while also guaranteeing freedom of religion.[48]

Catholicism

[edit]

Jurisdictions where Catholicism has been established as a state or official religion:

Jurisdictions that give various degrees of recognition in their constitutions to Roman Catholicism without establishing it as the State religion:

Eastern Orthodoxy

[edit]

The jurisdictions below give various degrees of recognition in their constitutions to Eastern Orthodoxy, but without establishing it as the state religion:

  •  Greece: The Church of Greece is recognized by the Greek Constitution as the prevailing religion in Greece.[67] However, this provision does not give exclusivity of worship to the Church of Greece, while all other religions are recognized as equal and may be practiced freely.[68]
  •  Bulgaria: In the Bulgarian Constitution, Eastern Orthodoxy is recognized as "the traditional religion" of the Bulgarian people, but the state itself remains secular.[69]
  •  Cyprus: The Constitution of Cyprus states: "The Autocephalous Greek-Orthodox Church of Cyprus shall continue to have the exclusive right of regulating and administering its own internal affairs and property in accordance with the Holy Canons and its Charter in force for the time being and the Greek Communal Chamber shall not act inconsistently with such right."[70][c]
  •  Finland: Both the Finnish Orthodox Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland are "national churches".[71][72]
  •  Georgia: The Georgian Orthodox Church has a constitutional agreement with the state, the constitution recognizing "the special role of the Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia in the history of Georgia and its independence from the state".[73] (See also Concordat of 2002)

Protestantism

[edit]

The following states recognize some form of Protestantism as their state or official religion:

The Commonwealth

[edit]
Anglicanism
[edit]

The Anglican Church of England is the established church in England as well as all three of the Crown Dependencies:

Calvinism
[edit]
  •  Scotland: The Church of Scotland is the national church, but not the United Kingdom as a whole.[77] Whilst it is the national church, it 'is not State controlled' and the monarch is not the 'supreme governor' as in the Church of England.[77]
  •  Tuvalu: The Church of Tuvalu is the state religion, although in practice this merely entitles it to "the privilege of performing special services on major national events".[78] The Constitution of Tuvalu guarantees freedom of religion, including the freedom to practice, the freedom to change religion, the right not to receive religious instruction at school or to attend religious ceremonies at school, and the right not to "take an oath or make an affirmation that is contrary to his religion or belief".[79]

Nordic Countries

[edit]
Lutheranism
[edit]

Jurisdictions where a Lutheran church has been fully or partially established as a state recognized religion include the Nordic States.

Jurisdictions that give various degrees of recognition in their constitutions to Lutheranism without establishing it as the state religion:

  •  Finland: The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland has a special relationship with the Finnish state, its internal structure being described in a special law, the Church Act.[71] The Church Act can be amended only by a decision of the synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church and subsequent ratification by the Parliament of Finland. The Church Act is protected by the Constitution of Finland and the state cannot change the Church Act without changing the constitution. The church has the power to tax its members. The state collects these taxes for the church, for a fee. On the other hand, the church is required to give a burial place for everyone in its graveyards.[71] The President of Finland also decides the themes for intercession days. The church does not consider itself a state church, as the Finnish state does not have the power to influence its internal workings or its theology, although it has a veto in those changes of the internal structure which require changing the Church Act. Neither does the Finnish state accord any precedence to Lutherans or the Lutheran faith in its own acts.
  •  Sweden: The Church of Sweden was the state church of Sweden between 1527 when King Gustav Vasa broke all ties with Rome and 2000 when the state officially became secular. Much like in Finland, it does have a special relation to the Swedish state unlike any other religious organizations. For example, there is a special law that regulates certain aspects of the church[85] and the members of the royal family are required to belong to it in order to have a claim to the line of succession. A majority of the population still belongs to the Church of Sweden.[86]

Other/mixed

[edit]
  •  Armenia: The Armenian Apostolic Church has a constitutional agreement with the State: "The Republic of Armenia shall recognise the exclusive mission of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church, as a national church, in the spiritual life of the Armenian people, in the development of their national culture and preservation of their national identity."[87]
  •  Dominican Republic: The constitution of the Dominican Republic specifies that there is no state church and provides for freedom of religion and belief. A concordat with the Holy See designates Catholicism as the official religion and extends special privileges to the Catholic Church not granted to other religious groups. These include the legal recognition of church law, use of public funds to underwrite some church expenses, and complete exoneration from customs duties.[88]
  •  Haiti: While Catholicism has not been the state religion since 1987, a 19th-century concordat with the Holy See continues to confer preferential treatment to the Catholic Church, in the form of stipends for clergy and financial support to churches and religious schools. The Catholic Church also retains the right to appoint certain amounts of clergy in Haiti without the government's consent.[89][90]
  •  Hungary: The preamble to the Hungarian Constitution of 2011 describes Hungary as "part of Christian Europe" and acknowledges "the role of Christianity in preserving nationhood", while Article VII provides that "the State shall cooperate with the Churches for community goals." However, the constitution also guarantees freedom of religion and separation of church and state.[91]
  •  Nicaragua: The Nicaraguan Constitution of 1987 states that the country has no official religion, but defines "Christian values" as one of the "principles of the Nicaraguan nation".[92]
  •  Portugal: Although Church and State are formally separate, the Catholic Church in Portugal still receives certain privileges.[93]

Islam

[edit]

Many Muslim-majority countries have constitutionally established Islam, or a specific form of it, as a state religion. Proselytism (converting people away from Islam) is often illegal in such states.[94][95][96][97]

In some countries, Islam is not recognized as a state religion, but holds special status:

  • Tajikistan Tajikistan: Although there is a separation of religion from politics, certain aspects of law also privilege Islam. One such law declares "Islam to be a traditional religion of Tajikistan, with more rights and privileges given to Islamic organizations than to religious groups of non-Muslim origin".[124]
  • Tunisia Tunisia: Article 5 of the Constitution declares that "Tunisia is part of the Muslim world, and the state alone must work to achieve the goals of pure Islam in preserving honourable life of religious freedom". Although, Islam has been given special privileges by the Constitution, though it is no longer the state religion.[125][126]
  • Turkmenistan Turkmenistan: The Constitution claims to uphold a secular system in which religious and state institutions are separate. However, in Turkmenistan, the state actively privileges a form of traditional Islam. The culture, including Islam, is a key facet, contributes to the Turkmen national identity. The state encourages the conceptualization of "Turkmen Islam".[127]
  • Uzbekistan Uzbekistan: Since independence, Islam has taken on an altogether new role in the nation-building process in Uzbekistan. The government affords Islam in special status and declared it as a national heritage and a moral guideline.[128]

Judaism

[edit]
See also: Jewish state
  •  Israel: Since the Proclamation of Israeli independence in 1948, Judaism is defined in several of its laws as a "Jewish and democratic state" (medina yehudit ve-demokratit). However, the term "Jewish" is a polyseme that can describe the Jewish people as either an ethnic or a religious group. The debate about the meaning of the term "Jewish" and its legal and social applications is one of the most profound issues with which Israeli society deals. The problem of the status of religion in Israel, even though it is relevant to all religions, usually refers to the status of Judaism in Israeli society. Thus, even though from a constitutional point of view Judaism is not the state religion in Israel, its status nevertheless determines relations between religion and state and the extent to which religion influences the political center.[129] The Law of Return, passed on 5 July 1950, gives the global Jewish diaspora the right to relocate to Israel and acquire Israeli citizenship. Section - (1) of that law declares that "Every Jew has the right to come to this country as an Oleh"('immigrant'). In the Law of Return, the State of Israel gave effect to the Zionist movement's "credo" which called for the establishment of Israel as a Sovereign Jewish state with Democratic setups, ideals and values.[130] The State of Israel supports religious institutions, particularly Orthodox Jewish ones, and recognizes the "religious communities" as carried over from those recognized under the British Mandate—in turn derived from the pre-1917 Ottoman system of millets. These are Jewish and Christian (Eastern Orthodox, Latin Catholic, Gregorian-Armenian, Armenian-Catholic, Syriac Catholic, Chaldean, Melkite Catholic, Maronite Catholic, and Syriac Orthodox). The fact that the Muslim population was not defined as a religious community does not affect the rights of the Muslim community to practice their faith. At the end of the period covered by the 2009 U.S. International Religious Freedom Report, several of these denominations were pending official government recognition; however, the Government has allowed adherents of not officially recognized groups the freedom to practice. In 1961, legislation gave Muslim Shari'a courts exclusive jurisdiction in matters of personal status. Three additional religious communities have subsequently been recognized by Israeli law: the Druze (prior under Islamic jurisdiction), the Evangelical Episcopal Church, and followers of the Baháʼí Faith.[131]

Political religions

[edit]

In some countries, there is a political ideology sponsored by the government that may be called political religion.[132]

Multiple religion recognition

[edit]

Islam in Russia is recognized under the law and by Russian political leaders as one of Russia's traditional religions, Islam is a part of Russian historical heritage, and is subsidized by the Russian government.[152] The position of Islam as a major Russian religion, alongside Orthodox Christianity, dates from the time of Catherine the Great, who sponsored Islamic clerics and scholarship through the Orenburg Assembly.[153]

In addition, the Treaty of Lausanne explicitly guarantees the security and protection of both Greek and Armenian Orthodox Christian minorities and the Turkish-Jews. Their religious institutions are being recognized officially by the state.[161][162]

  •  Vietnam is officially atheist[163] (although sometimes also referred as atheist-Buddhist),[164][165] but recognizes only 38 religious organizations and one dharma practice.[166]

Former state religions

[edit]
See also: Secular state

Roman religion and Christianity

[edit]
Main articles: Roman imperial cult and Christianity as the Roman state religion

In Rome, the office of Pontifex Maximus came to be reserved for the Emperor, who was occasionally declared a god posthumously, or sometimes during his reign. Failure to worship the Emperor as a god was at times punishable by death, as the Roman government sought to link emperor worship with loyalty to the Empire. Many Christians and Jews were subject to persecution, torture and death in the Roman Empire because it was against their beliefs to worship the Emperor.[citation needed]

In 311, Emperor Galerius, on his deathbed, declared a religious indulgence to Christians throughout the Roman Empire, focusing on the ending of anti-Christian persecution. Constantine I and Licinius, the two Augusti, by the Edict of Milan of 313, enacted a law allowing religious freedom to everyone within the Roman Empire. Furthermore, the Edict of Milan cited that Christians may openly practice their religion unmolested and unrestricted, and provided that properties taken from Christians be returned to them unconditionally. Although the Edict of Milan allowed religious freedom throughout the Empire, it did not abolish nor disestablish the Roman state cult (Roman polytheistic paganism). The Edict of Milan was written in such a way as to implore the blessings of the deity.[citation needed]

Constantine called up the First Council of Nicaea in 325, although he was not a baptized Christian until years later. Despite enjoying considerable popular support, Christianity was still not the official state religion in Rome, although it was in some neighboring states such as Armenia, Iberia, and Aksum.[citation needed]

Roman religion (Neoplatonic Hellenism) was restored for a time by the Emperor Julian from 361 to 363. Julian does not appear to have reinstated the persecutions of the earlier Roman emperors.[citation needed]

Catholic Christianity, as opposed to Arianism and other ideologies deemed heretical, was declared to be the state religion of the Roman Empire on 27 February 380[167] by the decree De fide catolica of Emperor Theodosius I.[168]

Han dynasty Confucianism

[edit]

In China, the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE) advocated Confucianism as the de facto state religion, establishing tests based on Confucian texts as an entrance requirement into government service—although, in fact, the "Confucianism" advocated by the Han emperors may be more properly termed a sort of Confucian Legalism or "State Confucianism". This sort of Confucianism continued to be regarded by the emperors, with a few notable exceptions, as a form of state religion from this time until the collapse of the Chinese monarchy in 1912. Note, however, there is a debate over whether Confucianism (including Neo-Confucianism) is a religion or purely a philosophical system.[169]

Yuan dynasty Buddhism

[edit]

During the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty of China (1271–1368 CE), Tibetan Buddhism was established as the de facto state religion by the Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan dynasty. The top-level department and government agency known as the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs (Xuanzheng Yuan) was set up in Khanbaliq (modern Beijing) to supervise Buddhist monks throughout the empire. Since Kublai Khan only esteemed the Sakya sect of Tibetan Buddhism, other religions became less important. Before the end of the Yuan dynasty, 14 leaders of the Sakya sect had held the post of Imperial Preceptor (Dishi), thereby enjoying special power.[170]

Golden Horde and Ilkhanate

[edit]

The Mongol rulers Ghazan of Ilkhanate and Uzbeg of Golden Horde converted to Islam in 1295 CE because of the Muslim Mongol emir Nawruz and in 1313 CE because of Sufi Bukharan sayyid and sheikh Ibn Abdul Hamid respectively. Their official favoring of Islam as the state religion coincided with a marked attempt to bring the regime closer to the non-Mongol majority of the regions they ruled. In Ilkhanate, Christian and Jewish subjects lost their equal status with Muslims and again had to pay the poll tax; Buddhists had the starker choice of conversion or expulsion.[171]

Former state churches in British North America

[edit]
Main article: Separation of church and state in the United States § State churches in British North America prior to the Revolution

Other states

[edit]
  • The State of Deseret was an unrecognised provisional state of the United States, proposed in 1849, by Mormon settlers in Salt Lake City. The provisional state existed for slightly over two years, but attempts to gain recognition by the United States government floundered for various reasons. The Utah Territory which was then founded was under Mormon control, and repeated attempts to gain statehood met resistance, in part due to concerns that the principle of separation of church and state conflicted with the practice of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints placing their highest value on "following counsel" in virtually all matters relating to their church-centered lives. The state of Utah was eventually admitted to the union on 4 January 1896, after the various issues had been resolved.[172]
  •  Kingdom of Hawaii: From 1862 to 1893 the Church of Hawaii, an Anglican body, was the official state and national church of the Kingdom of Hawaii.[citation needed]
  •  Japanese Empire: see details in the State Shintō article.
  •  Netherlands: Article 133 of the 1814 Constitution stipulated the Sovereign Prince should be a member of the Reformed Church; this provision was dropped in the 1815 Constitution.[173] The 1815 Constitution also provided for a state salary and pension for the priesthood of established religions at the time (Protestantism, Catholicism and Judaism). This settlement, nicknamed de zilveren koorde (the silver cord), was abolished in 1983.[174][175][176]
  •    Nepal was the world's only Hindu state until 2015, when the new constitution declared it a secular state. Proselytizing remains illegal.[177][178]
  •  Ottoman Empire: the Millet system (Turkish: [millet]; Arabic: مِلَّة) was the independent court of law pertaining to "personal law" under which a confessional community (a group abiding by the laws of Muslim Sharia, Christian Canon law, or Jewish Halakha) was allowed to rule itself under its own laws.
  •  Spain: Spain formerly was a Catholic confessional state under Francisco Franco, but currently is a non-confessional state.
  •  Sudan had Islam as the official religion during the rule of Omar al-Bashir according to the Constitution of Sudan of 2005.[179] It was declared a secular state in September 2020.[180]
  • Tunisia Tunisia: Article 5 of the Constitution declares that "Tunisia is part of the Muslim world, and the state alone must work to achieve the goals of pure Islam in preserving honourable life of religious freedom". Although, Islam has been given special privileges by the Constitution, though it is no longer the state religion.[125][126]
  •  Tokugawa shogunate sanctioned Buddhism and Confucianism as the state religions.[181][182] Buddhism became an arm of the shogunate, and temples were used for population registration. Distinctive schools of Japanese Buddhism such as Zen, Pure Land, and Nichiren structured Japanese religious life until the 19th century.[183] Confucian Zhu Xi's teaching became a major intellectual force, and the Four Books became available to virtually every educated person.[184]

Established churches and former state churches

[edit]
Country Church Denomination Disestablished
Anhalt Evangelical State Church of Anhalt united Protestant 1918
Armenia Armenian Apostolic Church Oriental Orthodox 1921
Austria Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1918
Baden Roman Catholic Church Catholic

1918

United Evangelical Protestant State Church of Baden united Protestant 1918
Bavaria Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1918
Protestant State Church in the Kingdom of Bavaria right of the Rhine Lutheran and Reformed 1918
United Protestant Evangelical Christian Church of the Palatinate united Protestant 1918
Barbados Church of England Anglican 1968
Bolivia Roman Catholic Church Catholic 2009
Brazil[d] Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1890
Brunswick Evangelical Lutheran State Church in Brunswick Lutheran 1918
Bulgaria Bulgarian Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox 1946
Central African Empire Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1979
Chile Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1925
Colombia Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1936[185]
Cuba Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1902
Cyprus Church of Cyprus Eastern Orthodox 1977, after the death of President and Ethnarch Makarios III
Czechoslovakia Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1920
Denmark Church of Denmark Lutheran Current
England Church of England Anglican Current
Ethiopia Ethiopian Orthodox Church Oriental Orthodox 1974
Faroe Islands Church of the Faroe Islands Lutheran Elevated from a diocese of the Church of Denmark in 2007 (the two remain in close cooperation)
Finland Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland Lutheran 1867
Finnish Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox 1917
France Cult of Reason N/A 1794 (established 1793)
Cult of the Supreme Being N/A 1794, (banned in 1802)
Roman Catholic Church[e] Catholic 1905
Georgia Georgian Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox 1921
Greece Church of Greece Eastern Orthodox[67] The Church is recognized by the Greek Constitution as the "prevailing religion" in Greece.[67] However, this does not give it established status, and all other religions are recognized as equal and may be practiced freely.[68]
Greenland Church of Denmark Lutheran Under discussion to be elevated from The Diocese of Greenland in the Church of Denmark to a state church for Greenland, similar to the Faroese Church.
Guatemala Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1871
Haiti Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1987
Hawaii Church of Hawaii Anglican 1893
Hesse Evangelical Church in Hesse united Protestant 1918
Hungary[f] Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1946
Iceland Lutheran Evangelical Church Lutheran Current
Ireland[g] Church of Ireland Anglican 1871
Italy Roman Catholic Church Catholic 18 February 1984 (effective 25 April 1985[192])
Liechtenstein Roman Catholic Church[51] Catholic Current
Lippe Church of Lippe Reformed 1918
Lithuania Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1940
Lübeck Evangelical Lutheran Church in the State of Lübeck Lutheran 1918
Luxembourg Roman Catholic Church Catholic Not an official state church.[193]
Malta Roman Catholic Church Catholic Current
Mecklenburg-Schwerin Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Lutheran 1918
Mecklenburg-Strelitz Mecklenburg-Strelitz State Church Lutheran 1918
Mexico Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1857 (reestablished 1864 to 1867)
Monaco Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1999 (reestablished 2020)
Netherlands Dutch Reformed Church Reformed 1795
Nicaragua Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1939[194]
North Macedonia Macedonian Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox 1921
Norway Church of Norway Lutheran Since 2012, the Constitution of Norway does not name Lutheranism as the state religion, and in 2017 the Church became an independent legal entity.[195][196][197] However, Article 16 says "The Church of Norway [...] will remain the National Church of Norway and will as such be supported by the State."[198] The

separation was official on 1 January 2017.[195][199]

Oldenburg Evangelical Lutheran Church of Oldenburg Lutheran 1918
Panama Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1904
Paraguay Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1992[200]
Peru Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1993
Philippines[h] Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1898
Poland[i] Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1947
Portugal[j] Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1910, 1976
Prussia
(pre-1866 provinces)		 Evangelical State Church of Prussia's older Provinces (nine ecclesiastical provinces) united Protestant 1918
Prussia
(Province of Hanover)		 Evangelical Reformed State Church of the Province of Hanover Reformed 1918
Prussia
(Province of Hanover)		 Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Hanover Lutheran 1918
Prussia
(Province of Hesse-Nassau, partially)		 Evangelical State Church of Frankfurt upon Main united Protestant 1918
Prussia
(Province of Hesse-Nassau, partially)		 Evangelical Church of Electoral Hesse united Protestant 1918
Prussia
(Province of Hesse-Nassau, partially)		 Evangelical State Church in Nassau united Protestant 1918
Prussia
(Province of Schleswig-Holstein)		 Evangelical Lutheran Church of Schleswig-Holstein Lutheran 1918
Romania Romanian Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox 1947
Russia Russian Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox 1917
Saxony Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Saxony Lutheran 1918
Schaumburg-Lippe Evangelical State Church of Schaumburg-Lippe Lutheran 1918
Scotland[201] Church of Scotland Presbyterian “The Kirk” remains the national church, with state control disclaimed since 1638. Not an established faith per the Church of Scotland Act 1921.
Serbia Serbian Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox 1920
Spain Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1978
Sweden Church of Sweden Lutheran 2000
Thuringia church bodies in principalities which merged in Thuringia in 1920 Lutheran 1918
Tuvalu Church of Tuvalu Reformed Current
Uruguay Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1918 (effective 1919)
United States[k] none since 1776, which was made explicit in the Bill of Rights in 1792 none n/a; some state legislatures required all its citizens to be members of a church, and some had official churches, such as Congregationalism in some New England states like Massachusetts. This eventually ended in 1833 when Massachusetts was the last state to disestablish its church.
Waldeck Evangelical State Church of Waldeck and Pyrmont united Protestant 1918
Wales[l] Church of England Anglican 1920
Württemberg Evangelical State Church in Württemberg Lutheran 1918

Former confessional states

[edit]

Note: This only includes states that abolished their state religion themselves, not states with a state religion that were conquered, fell apart or otherwise disappeared.

Buddhism

[edit]
Country Denomination Disestablished
Laos Theravada Buddhism 1975[206]
Siam Theravada Buddhism 1932
Tokugawa Shogunate Japanese Buddhism 1868

Hinduism

[edit]
Country Disestablished
Nepal 2008 (de facto)[207]
2015 (de jure)[207]

Islam

[edit]
Country Denomination Disestablished
Sudan Sunni Islam 2020[208]
Tunisia Sunni Islam 2022[125]
Turkey Sunni Islam 1928[m]

Shamanism

[edit]
Country Denomination Disestablished
Silla Korean Shamanism 527 CE

Shinto

[edit]
Country Denomination Disestablished
Japan State Shinto 1947 (de facto)[210]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Bhutan,[1] Mauritania,[2] Western Sahara (via Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic[3] and Morocco,[4] which divide control), Morocco,[4] Tunisia,[5] Egypt,[6] England,[7] Jordan,[8] Iraq,[9] Pakistan,[10] Bangladesh,[11] United Arab Emirates,[12] Oman,[13] Yemen,[14] Maldives,[15] Iran,[16] Algeria,[17] Saudi Arabia,[18] Sri Lanka,[19] Afghanistan,[20] Somalia,[21] Malaysia,[22] Brunei,[23] Greece,[24] Denmark,[25] Costa Rica,[26] Zambia.[27] See also here.
  2. ^ The headship was administrative and jurisdictional but did not include the potestas ordinis (the right to preach, ordain, administer the sacraments and rites of the Church which were reserved to the clergy).[30]
  3. ^ The Constitution also states that "Any matter relating to divorce, judicial separation or restitution of conjugal rights or to family relations of the members of the Greek-Orthodox Church, shall be cognizable by family courts each of which is composed: For a divorce trial, of three judges, one of which is a lawyer ecclesiastical officer appointed by the Greek Orthodox Church and presides over the Court and the other two of high professional and moral standard belonging to the Greek Orthodox Church are appointed by the Supreme Court among lawyers. If no ecclesiastical officer is appointed as above, the Supreme Court appoints the President of the Court as well."[70]
  4. ^ Brazilian Laws – the Federal Constitution – The Organization of State. V-brazil.com. Retrieved 5 May 2012. Brazil had Roman Catholicism as the state religion from the country's independence in 1822, until the fall of the Brazilian Empire. The new Republican government passed in 1890, Decree 119-A "Decreto 119-A". Prohibits federal and state authorities to intervene on religion, granting freedom of religion. (still in force), instituting the separation of church and state in Brazilian law. Positivist thinker Demétrio Nunes Ribeiro urged the new government to adopt this stance. The 1891 Constitution, the first under the Republican system of government, abolished privileges for any specific religion, reaffirming the separation. This has been the case as stated in Article XIX of the 1988 Constitution of Brazil currently in force. The Preamble, however, does refer to "God's protection" over the document's promulgation, but this is not considered a legal endorsement of belief in any deity.
  5. ^ In France, the Concordat of 1801 made the Roman Catholic, Calvinist, and Lutheran churches, along with Judaism, into state-sponsored religions until the 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State.
  6. ^ In Hungary, the constitutional laws of 1848 declared five established churches of equal status: the Roman Catholic, Calvinist, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox and Unitarian Church. In 1868, the law was ratified again after the Ausgleich and in 1895 Judaism was added as the sixth established faith. In 1948, every distinction between the different denominations was abolished.[186][187]
  7. ^ In the Kingdom of Ireland, the Church of Ireland was established in the Reformation.[188] The Act of Union 1800 created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, with the United Church of England and Ireland established outside Scotland. The Irish Church Act 1869 demerged and disestablished the Church of Ireland,[188] and the island was partitioned in 1922. The Republic of Ireland's 1937 constitution prohibits any established religion.[189] Originally, it recognized the "special position" of the Roman Catholic Church "as the guardian of the Faith professed by the great majority of the citizens", and recognized "the Church of Ireland, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the Methodist Church in Ireland, the Religious Society of Friends in Ireland, as well as Jewish Congregations and the other religious denominations existing in Ireland at the date of the coming into operation of this Constitution".[190] These provisions were deleted in 1973.[191]
  8. ^ The Philippines was among several possessions ceded by Spain to the United States in 1898; religious freedom was subsequently guaranteed in the archipelago by the American colonial government. This was codified in the Philippine Organic Act (1902), section 5: ”... That no law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, and that the free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed.” A similarly-worded provision still exists in the present Constitution, promulgated in 1987. While neither a state nor national church, the Catholic Church in the Philippines remains the predominant faith of the people, still wielding considerable political and cultural influence.
  9. ^ Article 25 of the constitution states: "1. Churches and other religious organizations shall have equal rights. 2. Public authorities in the Republic of Poland shall be impartial in matters of personal conviction". Article 114 of the Polish March Constitution of 1921 declared the Roman Catholic Church to hold "the principal position among religious denominations equal before the law" (in reference to the idea of first among equals). This was continuously enforced by Article 81 of the April Constitution of 1935. The [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics|Soviet]]-backed PKWN Manifesto of 1944 reapplied the March Constitution, which remained in force until it was replaced by the Small Constitution of 1947.
  10. ^ Until the end of the monarchy in 1910, Roman Catholicism was considered the state religion. From the 1940s until the promulgation of official secularism in the Portuguese Constitution of 1976, it was a powerful institution under the Estado Novo regime that had ended in the 1975 Carnation Revolution.[citation needed]
  11. ^ The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution explicitly forbids the federal government from enacting any law respecting a religious establishment, and thus bans either designating an official church nationwide, or interfering with State and local official churches—which were common when the First Amendment was enacted. It did not prevent state governments from establishing official churches. Connecticut continued to do so until it replaced its colonial Charter with the Connecticut Constitution of 1818; Massachusetts retained an establishment of religion in general until 1833.[202] Until its substitution by Article of Amendment XI in 1834, Article III of the Massachusetts constitution's bill of rights provided, "... the legislature shall, from time to time, authorize and require, the several towns, parishes, precincts, and other bodies politic, or religious societies, to make suitable provision, at their own expense, for the institution of the public worship of God, and for the support and maintenance of public Protestant teachers of piety, religion and morality, in all cases where such provision shall not be made voluntarily."[203] The Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1868, makes no mention of religious establishment, but forbids the states to "abridge the privileges or immunities" of U.S. citizens, or to "deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law". In the 1947 case of Everson v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court of the United States held that this later provision incorporates the First Amendment's Establishment Clause as applying to the States, and thereby prohibits state and local religious establishments. The exact boundaries of this prohibition are still disputed, and are a frequent source of cases raised to the Supreme Court — especially as the Court must now balance, on a state level, First Amendment prohibitions on government establishment of official religions with the First Amendment prohibitions on government interference with the free exercise of religion. See school prayer for such a controversy in contemporary American politics. All current State constitutions do mention a Creator, but include guarantees of religious liberty parallel to the First Amendment. The constitutions of eight states (Arkansas, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas) also contain clauses that forbid atheists from holding public office.[204][205] However, these clauses were held by the Supreme Court to be unenforceable in the 1961 case of Torcaso v. Watkins, where the Court ruled unanimously that such clauses constituted a religious test incompatible with the religious test prohibition in Article 6 Section 3 of the Constitution. The Anglican Church of Hawaii was the state church of the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1862 until the monarchy was overthrown in 1893, with the islands formally annexed by the United States in 1898.
  12. ^ The Church in Wales was split from the Church of England in 1920 by Welsh Church Act 1914, and at the same time becoming disestablished.
  13. ^ The Turkish Constitution of 1924 was amended for the first time on 10 April 1928, including removing inter alia Article 2 and the provision of "Religion of the Turkish state is Islam".[209]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ The Inscrutable Guardian of Thunder and Silence: the Dragon (Druk) in Himalayan Symbology.
  2. ^ "Mauritania". CIA World Factbook. 22 November 2021.
  3. ^ a b Shelley, Toby (2004). Endgame in the Western Sahara: What Future for Africa's Last Colony. Zed Books. p. 174. ISBN 978-1-84277-341-3.
  4. ^ a b "Morocco". CIA World Factbook. 23 November 2021.
  5. ^ "Tunisia". CIA World Factbook. 24 November 2021.
  6. ^ "The 2012 Constitution of Egypt". Nivien Saleh. Translated by Nivien Saleh. 9 February 2013. Article 2. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  7. ^ United Kingdom's Constitution of 1215 with Amandments through 2013
  8. ^ "Jordan". CIA World Factbook. 24 November 2021.
  9. ^ "Iraq". CIA World Factbook. 22 November 2021.
  10. ^ "Pakistan". CIA World Factbook. 30 November 2021.
  11. ^ "Bangladesh". CIA World Factbook. 16 November 2021.
  12. ^ "United Arab Emirates". CIA World Factbook. 23 November 2021.
  13. ^ "Oman". CIA World Factbook. 30 November 2021.
  14. ^ "Yemen". CIA World Factbook. 24 November 2021.
  15. ^ "Maldives". CIA World Factbook. 23 November 2021.
  16. ^ "Iranian Constitution". www.servat.unibe.ch. Article 12. Retrieved 2 January 2023. The official religion of Iran is Islam and the Twelver Ja'fari school, ...
  17. ^ "Algeria". CIA World Factbook. 18 November 2021.
  18. ^ Basic Law of Governance (Chapter one, Article one), saudiembassy.net, "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a sovereign Arab Islamic State. Its religion is Islam. Its constitution is Almighty God's Book, The Holy Qur'an, and the Sunna (Traditions) of the Prophet (PBUH). Arabic is the language of the Kingdom. The City of Riyadh is the capital."
  19. ^ "Sri Lanka". CIA World Factbook. 3 October 2022.
  20. ^ The Constitution of Afghanistan (Chapter one, Article two), afghan-web.com
  21. ^ "Somalia". CIA World Factbook. 19 November 2021.
  22. ^ Federal Constitution, agc.gov.my
  23. ^ International Business Publications, USA (2007). Brunei Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'Izzaddin Waddaulah Handbook. Int'l Business Publications. pp. 133. ISBN 978-1-4330-0444-5.
  24. ^ "Greece". CIA World Factbook. 29 November 2021.
  25. ^ "Denmark". CIA World Factbook. 30 November 2021.
  26. ^ Title VI, Article 75 of The Constitution of Costa Rica, costaricalaw.com.
  27. ^ "Zambia's Constitution of 1991 with Amendments through 2009" (PDF). CIA World Factbook.
  28. ^ The Journal of Ecclesiastical History. p. 268 by Cambridge University Press, Gale Group, C.W. Dugmore
  29. ^ Shiffrin, Steven H. (26 August 2012). The Religious Left and Church-State Relations. Princeton University Press. pp. 160–161. ISBN 978-1-4008-3383-2.
  30. ^ Bray, Gerald. Documents of the English Reformation James Clarke & Cº (1994), p. 114
  31. ^ Neill, Stephen. Anglicanism Penguin (1960), p. 61
  32. ^ The concerned religious communities are the dioceses of Metz and of Strasbourg, the Lutheran EPCAAL and the Reformed EPRAL and the three Israelite consistories in Colmar, Metz and Strasbourg.
  33. ^ The Editors of the Encyclopedia Britannica . "Established church". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  34. ^ "Background". The Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan. Archived from the original on 15 July 2010. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  35. ^ "Draft of Tsa Thrim Chhenmo" (PDF). constitution.bt. 1 August 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 November 2007. Retrieved 18 October 2007.
    Article 3, Spiritual Heritage
    1. Buddhism is the spiritual heritage of Bhutan, which promotes the principles and values of peace, non-violence, compassion and tolerance.
    2. The Druk Gyalpo is the protector of all religions in Bhutan.
    3. It shall be the responsibility of religious institutions and personalities to promote the spiritual heritage of the country while also ensuring that religion remains separate from politics in Bhutan. Religious institutions and personalities shall remain above politics.
    4. The Druk Gyalpo shall, on the recommendation of the Five Lopons, appoint a learned and respected monk ordained in accordance with the Druk-lu, blessed with the nine qualities of a spiritual master and accomplished in ked-dzog, as the Je Khenpo.
    5. His Holiness the Je Khenpo shall, on the recommendation of the Dratshang Lhentshog, appoint monks blessed with the nine qualities of a spiritual master and accomplished in ked-dzog as the Five Lopons.
    6. The members of the Dratshang Lhentshog shall comprise:
       (a) The Je Khenpo as Chairman;
       (b) The Five Lopons of the Zhung Dratshang; and
       (c) The Secretary of the Dratshang Lhentshog who is a civil servant.
    7. The Zhung Dratshang and Rabdeys shall continue to receive adequate funds and other facilities from the State."Bhutan's Constitution of 2008" (PDF). constituteproject.org/. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  36. ^ "Constitution of Cambodia". cambodia.org. Retrieved 13 April 2011. (Article 43).
  37. ^ "East Asia/Southeast Asia :: Cambodia – The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency". cia.gov. 24 November 2021.
  38. ^ "Constitution of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (2008)". Constitutional Tribunal of the Union. Archived from the original on 3 February 2023.
  39. ^ "၁၉၆၁ ခုနှစ်၊ နိုင်ငံတော်ဘာသာသာသနာချီးမြှောက်ထောက်ပံ့ရေးအက်ဥပဒေ" [1961 year, State Religion Promotion and Support Act]. Constitutional Tribunal of the Union, Law Library. Archived from the original on 25 October 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  40. ^ "Sri Lanka".
  41. ^ "Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand" (PDF). ConstitutionNet. Retrieved 29 October 2017. Section 67. The State should support and protect Buddhism [...] In supporting and protecting Buddhism, [...] the State should promote and support education and dissemination of dharmic principles of Theravada Buddhism [...], and shall have measures and mechanisms to prevent Buddhism from being undermined in any form. The State should also encourage Buddhists to participate in implementing such measures or mechanisms.
  42. ^ "Lao People's Democratic Republic's Constitution of 1991 with Amendments through 2003" (PDF). constituteproject.org. Retrieved 29 October 2017. Article 9: The State respects and protects all lawful activities of Buddhists and of followers of other religions, [and] mobilises and encourages Buddhist monks and novices as well as the priests of other religions to participate in activities that are beneficial to the country and people.
  43. ^ Sinclair, Tara (2008). "Tibetan Reform and the Kalmyk Revival of Buddhism". Inner Asia. 10 (2): 241–259. doi:10.1163/000000008793066713. ISSN 1464-8172. JSTOR 23615096.
  44. ^ "Buddhism in Russia: challenges and choices in the post-Soviet period". ResearchGate. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  45. ^ "Kalmykia: few complaints over Kalmykia's state support for Buddhism". english.religion.info. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  46. ^ Wyeth, Grant (16 June 2017). "Samoa Officially Becomes a Christian State". The Diplomat.
  47. ^ Feagaimaali’i-Luamanu, Joyetter (8 June 2017). "Constitutional Amendment Passes; Samoa Officially Becomes 'Christian State'". Pacific Islands Report. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  48. ^ Constitution of Zambia. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  49. ^ "Costa Rica Constitution in English – Constitutional Law – Costa Rica Legal Topics". costaricalaw.com. Archived from the original on 6 September 2015.
  50. ^ "Vatican City". Catholic-Pages.com. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  51. ^ a b Constitution Religion at the Wayback Machine (archived 26 March 2009) (archived from the original on 2009-03-26).
  52. ^ "Constitution of Malta (Article 2)". mjha.gov.mt.[permanent dead link]
  53. ^ Constitution de la Principaute at the Wayback Machine (archived 27 September 2011) (French): Art. 9., Principaute De Monaco: Ministère d'Etat (archived from the original on 2011-09-27).
  54. ^ Temperman, Jeroen (2010). State–Religion Relationships and Human Rights Law: Towards a Right to Religiously Neutral Governance. Brill. ISBN 978-9004181496. ... guarantees the Roman Catholic Church free and public exercise of its activities and the preservation of the relations of special co-operation with the state in accordance with the Andorran tradition. The Constitution recognizes the full legal capacity of the bodies of the Roman Catholic Church which have legal status in accordance with their own rules.
  55. ^
  56. ^ "Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste" (PDF). Governo de Timor-Leste.
  57. ^ "Google Translate". Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  58. ^ "Constitution of the Republic of El Salvador (as Amended to 2003)" (PDF). 3 January 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 January 2015.
  59. ^ "Guatemala's Constitution of 1985 with Amendments through 1993" (PDF). Constitution Project. The juridical personality of the Catholic Church is recognized. The other churches, cults, entities, and associations of religious character will obtain the recognition of their juridical personality in accordance with the rules of their institution[,] and the Government may not deny it[,] aside from reasons of public order. The State will extend to the Catholic Church, without any cost, [the] titles of ownership of the real assets which it holds peacefully for its own purposes, as long as they have formed part of the patrimony of the Catholic Church in the past. The property assigned to third parties or those
  60. ^ "Constitution of the Italian Republic" (PDF). Senato.it. Retrieved 6 June 2021. The State and the Catholic Church are independent and sovereign, each within its own sphere. Their relations are regulated by the Lateran pacts. Amendments to such Pacts which are accepted by both parties shall not require the procedure of constitutional amendments.
  61. ^ "Constitution of the Italian Republic" (PDF). Senato.it. Retrieved 6 June 2021. All religious denominations are equally free before the law. Denominations other than Catholicism have the right to self-organisation according to their own statutes, provided these do not conflict with Italian law. Their relations with the State are regulated by law, based on agreements with their respective representatives.
  62. ^ Executive Summary – Panama, 2013 Report on International Religious Freedom, United States Department of State.
  63. ^ "Constitution of the Republic of Paraguay". The role played by the Catholic Church in the historical and cultural formation of the Republic is hereby recognized.
  64. ^ "Constitution of the Republic of Peru" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 July 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2009. Within an independent and autonomous system, the State recognizes the Catholic Church as an important element in the historical, cultural, and moral formation of Peru and lends it its cooperation. The State respects other denominations and may establish forms of collaboration with them.
  65. ^ "The Constitution of the Republic of Poland". 2 April 1997. The relations between the Republic of Poland and the Roman Catholic Church shall be determined by international treaty concluded with the Holy See, and by statute. The relations between the Republic of Poland and other churches and religious organizations shall be determined by statutes adopted pursuant to agreements concluded between their appropriate representatives and the Council of Ministers.
  66. ^ Constitución española (PDF). BOE. Vol. 311. 29 December 1978. art, 14, 16 & 27.3. BOE-A-1978-31229. Retrieved 26 April 2024. No religion shall have a state character. The public authorities shall take into account the religious beliefs of Spanish society and shall consequently maintain appropriate cooperation relations with the Catholic Church and other confessions.
  67. ^ a b c "Constitution of Greece". www.hri.org. Section II Relations of Church and State: Article 3. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  68. ^ a b "Constitution of Greece". www.hri.org. Part Two Individual and Social Rights: Article 13. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  69. ^ "The Bulgarian Constitution". Parliament of Bulgaria. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
  70. ^ a b "Cyprus's Constitution of 1960 with Amendments through 2013" (PDF). Constitution Project.
  71. ^ a b c LL.M., Prof. Dr. Axel Tschentscher. "Finland Constitution". International Constitutional Law (ICL). Section 76, The Church Act. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  72. ^ Salla Korpela (May 2005). "The Church in Finland today". Finland Promotion Board; Produced by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Department for Communications and Culture.
  73. ^ Constitution of Georgia Article 9 (1&2) and 73 (1a1)
  74. ^ "The History of the Church of England". The Archbishops' Council of the Church of England. Archived from the original on 21 February 2010. Retrieved 24 May 2006.
  75. ^ "About". Guernsey Deanery. Church of England.
  76. ^ Gell, Sir James. "Gell on Manx Church". Isle of Man Online. IOM Online. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  77. ^ a b "Our structure". The Church of Scotland. 22 February 2010. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  78. ^ Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Refworld – 2010 Report on International Religious Freedom – Tuvalu". Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  79. ^ Constitution of Tuvalu, article 23.
  80. ^ "Denmark Constitution". www.servat.unibe.ch. Section 4, State Church. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  81. ^ Juergensmeyer, Mark; Roof, Wade Clark (2011). Encyclopedia of Global Religion. Sage Publications. p. 390. ISBN 978-1-4522-6656-5.
  82. ^ "Constitution of Denmark – Section IV" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 March 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2016. The Evangelical Lutheran Church shall be the Established Church of Denmark, and, as such, it shall be supported by the State.
  83. ^ "Constitution of the Republic of Iceland". www.government.is. Article 62. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  84. ^ "International Humanist and Ethical Union – State and Church move towards greater separation in Norway". 26 June 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  85. ^ Riksdagsförvaltningen. "Lag (1998:1591) om Svenska kyrkan Svensk författningssamling 1998:1998:1591 t.o.m. SFS 2009:1234 – Riksdagen". www.riksdagen.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  86. ^ Riksdagsförvaltningen. "Successionsordning (1810:0926); Svensk författningssamling 1810:1810:0926 – Riksdagen". www.riksdagen.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  87. ^ "National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia". parliament.am.
  88. ^ "2011 Report on International Religious Freedom – Dominican Republic". Refworld. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  89. ^ "Haiti". State.gov. 14 September 2007. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  90. ^ "International Religious Freedom Report for 2015". US State Department, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  91. ^ Hungary's Constitution of 2011. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  92. ^ "Nicaragua's Constitution of 1987 with Amendments through 2014" (PDF). Constitute Project. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  93. ^ "Concordat Watch – Portugal | Concordat (2004) : text". concordatwatch.eu.
  94. ^ "Saudi Arabia imposes death sentence for Bible smuggling". deathpenaltynews. 30 November 2014.
  95. ^ "Saudi Arabia's New Law Imposes Death Sentence for Bible Smugglers?". The Christian Post. 18 December 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  96. ^ "Saidi Arabia Imposes Death Sentence for Bible Smuggling". Archived from the original on 8 April 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  97. ^ Sheen J. Freedom of Religion and Belief: A World Report. (Routledge, 1997) p. 452.
  98. ^ "The Constitution of Afghanistan" (PDF). Afghanistan. 1987. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 July 2009. Retrieved 30 July 2009.
  99. ^ Article 2 of the Algerian Constitution of 2016
  100. ^ "Avant Projet de Revision de la Constitution" (PDF). ConstitutionNet (in French). 28 December 2015.
  101. ^ "The Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh | 2A. The state religion". bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd.
  102. ^ Article 2 of the Constitution of Bahrain:
  103. ^ "Bahrain's Constitution of 2002 with Amendments through 2012" (PDF). constituteproject.org. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  104. ^ "Brunei Darussalam's Constitution of 1959 with Amendments through 2006" (PDF). constituteproject.org. 6 June 2017.
  105. ^ "Djibouti's Constitution of 1992 with Amendments through 2010" (PDF). constituteproject.org. 6 June 2017.
  106. ^ Unofficial translation of the 2014 constitution
  107. ^ "Iran (Islamic Republic of)'s Constitution of 1979 with Amendments through 1989" (PDF). constituteproject.org. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  108. ^ "Iraqi Constitution" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 November 2016.
  109. ^ "The Constitution of The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan". 1 January 1952. Archived from the original on 26 April 2013. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  110. ^ "Kuwait's Constitution of 1962, Reinstated in 1992" (PDF). constituteproject.org. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  111. ^ "Draft Constitutional Charter For the Transitional Stage" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  112. ^ "Federal Constitution Incorporating all amendments up to P.U.(A) 164/2009" (PDF). Laws of Malaysia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 June 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  113. ^ "Maldives's Constitution of 2008" (PDF). constituteproject.org. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  114. ^ "Mauritania's Constitution of 1991 with Amendments through 2012" (PDF). constituteproject.org. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  115. ^ "Morocco Draft Text of the Constitution Adopted at the Referendum of 1 July 2011" (PDF). ConstitutionNet. Buffalo, New York: William S. Hein & Co., Inc. 2011.
  116. ^ "Oman's Constitution of 1996 with Amendments through 2011" (PDF). constituteproject.org. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  117. ^ "Part I: "Introductory"". Pakistani.org. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  118. ^ "Palestine Basic Law". www.mideastweb.org. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  119. ^ "The Constitution". Archived from the original on 24 October 2004. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  120. ^ "Basic Law of Governance". The Embassy of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  121. ^ "The Federal Republic of Somalia Provisional Constitution" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  122. ^ "United Arab Emirates's Constitution of 1971 with Amendments through 2004" (PDF). constituteproject.org. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  123. ^ "The Constitution of the Republic of Yemen As amended on 20 February 2001" (PDF). ConstitutionNet. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  124. ^ "Tajikistan: New Law on Religious Organizations". Library of Congress.
  125. ^ a b c "Why Tunisia abandoning Islam as a state religion?". GR. 24 June 2022.
  126. ^ a b "Factbox: What's in Tunisia's new constitution?". Reuters. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  127. ^ "Religion and the Secular State in Turkmenistan - Silk Road Paper". Institute for Security and Development Policy.
  128. ^ Ohlsson, Henrik (12 December 2011). "Islam and Secular State in Uzbekistan: State Control of Religion and its Implications for the Understanding of Secularity". Cahiers d'Asie centrale (19–20): 485–493 – via journals.openedition.org.
  129. ^ Trouble in Utopia: The Overburdened Polity of Israel, by Dan Horowitz and Moshe Lissak, pp. 51–52
  130. ^ International Commission of Jurists https://www.icj.org › 2013/06PDF The Law of Return, 5710-1950 1. Right of "aliya" Every Jew has the ...
  131. ^ "Israel and the occupied territories". U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. 29 October 2009. Archived from the original on 29 October 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  132. ^ Gentile, Emilio (2006) [2001]. Le religioni della politica. Fra democrazie e totalitarismi [Politics as Religion]. Princeton University Press.
  133. ^ Dillon, Michael (2001). Religious Minorities and China. Minority Rights Group International.
  134. ^ Rowan Callick. Party Time: Who Runs China and How. Black Inc, 2013. p. 112
  135. ^ a b French, Howard (3 March 2007). "Religious surge in once-atheist China surprises leaders". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  136. ^ "A surprising map of where the world's atheists live". The Washington Post. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  137. ^ "Party's secret directives on how to eradicate religion and ensure the victory of atheism". Asian News. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  138. ^ "China announces "civilizing" atheism drive in Tibet". BBC. 12 January 1999. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  139. ^ "Church-state tie opens door for mosque". The New York Times. 7 October 2008. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  140. ^ "Religion in Indonesia | Indonesia Investments". www.indonesia-investments.com. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  141. ^ "Kemendikbud serahkan KTP Penghayat Kepercayaan di Festival Budaya Solo". www.antaranews.com (in Indonesian). 18 July 2023. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  142. ^ "Women in Personal Status Laws". Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  143. ^ R. Rabil (2011). Religion, National Identity, and Confessional Politics in Lebanon: The Challenge of Islamism. Palgrave Macmillan US. ISBN 978-0-230-33925-5.
  144. ^ Jeroen Temperman (2010). State-Religion Relationships and Human Rights Law: Towards a Right to Religiously Neutral Governance. Brill. ISBN 978-9004181489.
  145. ^ Bourdeaux, Michael (2003). "Trends in Religious Policy". Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia. Taylor and Francis. pp. 46–52. ISBN 978-1857431377.
  146. ^ "Russia's De-Facto State Religion". The Christian Post. 24 April 2008.
  147. ^ "Russian Orthodoxy now de facto state religion". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. 24 April 2008.
  148. ^ "The Russian Orthodox Church: from farce to tragedy?". openDemocracy. 3 May 2012.
  149. ^ Bennett, Brian P. (2011). Religion and Language in Post-Soviet Russia. Routledge. ISBN 978-1136736131. the Russian Orthodox Church has become de facto state Church
  150. ^ Gentleman, Amelia (7 January 2001). "Backlash of faith shakes atheists". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 8 June 2023. 'It is only natural there has been a surge in interest in religion over the past decade, given the repression that went before,' Levinson said. 'But we are particularly concerned about the growing influence of the Russian Orthodox Church - which has become the de facto state religion - to the exclusion of all other convictions.'
  151. ^ "At Expense of All Others, Putin Picks a Church". The New York Times. 24 April 2008. Archived from the original on 8 June 2023. Just as the government has tightened control over political life, so, too, has it intruded in matters of faith. The Kremlin's surrogates in many areas have turned the Russian Orthodox Church into a de facto official religion
  152. ^ Bell, I (2002). Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-85743-137-7. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
  153. ^ Azamatov, Danil D. (1998), "The Muftis of the Orenburg Spiritual Assembly in the 18th and 19th Centuries: The Struggle for Power in Russia's Muslim Institution", in Anke von Kugelgen; Michael Kemper; Allen J. Frank, Muslim culture in Russia and Central Asia from the 18th to the early 20th centuries, vol. 2: Inter-Regional and Inter-Ethnic Relations, Berlin: Klaus Schwarz Verlag, pp. 355–384,
  154. ^ Fisher, Max (15 April 2014). "This map of the world's most religiously diverse countries may surprise you". Vox. Archived from the original on 4 November 2023.
  155. ^ "Inter-Religious Organisation, Singapore". iro.sg. Archived from the original on 26 June 2023.
  156. ^ "Turkish Constitution | Anayasa Mahkemesi". www.anayasa.gov.tr.
  157. ^ "Kurumsal".
  158. ^ "Turkey may have reclaimed the leadership of Sunni Islam from Saudi Arabia". Middle East Monitor. 30 July 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  159. ^ "2008 Report on International Religious Freedom – Afghanistan". United States Department of State. 19 September 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  160. ^ https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/808395 [bare URL]
  161. ^ https://law.yale.edu/sites/default/files/area/center/schell/patriacharte.pdf [bare URL]
  162. ^ https://rm.coe.int/native/09000016804e1f8e [bare URL]
  163. ^ "9. Marxist-Leninist 'Scientific Atheism' as the Science of Religion", Marxist-Leninist 'Scientific Atheism' and the Study of Religion and Atheism in the USSR, De Gruyter, pp. 359–384, 31 December 1983, doi:10.1515/9783110838589.359, ISBN 978-3-11-083858-9, retrieved 29 January 2021
  164. ^ "Buddhism in Vietnam: An Education in Enlightenment". 23 July 2015.
  165. ^ "Spiritual Guide: Religion in Vietnam". www.anywhere.com. 2023. Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  166. ^ "Vietnam". United States Department of State. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  167. ^ "The Theodosian Code". The Latin Library at Ad Fontes Academy. Ad Fontes Academy. Retrieved 23 November 2006.
  168. ^ Halsall, Paul (June 1997). "Theodosian Code XVI.i.2". Medieval Sourcebook: Banning of Other Religions. Fordham University. Archived from the original on 27 February 2007. Retrieved 23 November 2006.
  169. ^ "Sources on Confucian religiosity".
  170. ^ History of civilizations of Central Asia.: A.D. 750 to the end of the fifteenth century. Part two: The achievements, p. 59
  171. ^ Medieval Persia 1040–1797, David Morgan p. 72
  172. ^ Struggle For Statehood Archived 10 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine Edward Leo Lyman, Utah History Encyclopedia
  173. ^ "Artikel 133: Vorst belijdt de christelijke hervormde Godsdienst – Nederlandse grondwet". Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  174. ^ "Artikel 194: Traktementen, pensioenen en andere inkomsten – Nederlandse grondwet". Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  175. ^ "Info". rug.nl.
  176. ^ "wetten.nl – Regeling – Wet beëindiging financiële verhouding tussen Staat en Kerk – BWBR0003640". Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  177. ^ "Nepal Adopts New Constitution, Becomes a Secular State: 5 Facts". NDTV. 20 September 2015.
  178. ^ "The Constitution of Nepal" (PDF). wipo.int. 20 September 2015.
  179. ^ Constitution of Sudan, Article 5, paragraph 1.
  180. ^ "Sudan ends 30 years of Islamic law by separating religion, state". gulfnews.com. 6 September 2020.
  181. ^ Yamagishi, Keiko (2016). Ferrari, Silvio; Cristofori, Rinaldo (eds.). Law and Religion, An Overview. Vol. 1. Routledge. p. 458. ISBN 978-1-4094-3600-3. Archived from the original on 31 May 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2024. The Tokugawa Shogunate had sanctioned Buddhism as a state religion.
  182. ^ Calabresi, Steven Gow (2021). The History and Growth of Judicial Review. Vol. 2. Oxford University Press. p. 116. ISBN 9780190075750. Archived from the original on 31 May 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2024. Confucianism, with its emphasis on harmony, was the prevailing "state religion", although it coexisted with Shintoism, a religion that worshipped nature gods and that was personified by the emperor.
  183. ^ Tucci, Giuseppe. "Buddhism § Korea and Japan". britannica.com. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  184. ^ Tu, Weiming. "Confucianism § The Confucian revival". britannica.com. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  185. ^ John Gunter, Inside Latin America (1941), p. 166
  186. ^ Constitution of the Republic of Hungary at the Wayback Machine (archived 20 February 2008) (archived from the original on 2008-02-20)
  187. ^ The right of thought, the freedom of conscience and religion at the Wayback Machine (archived 23 May 2007) (archived from the original on 2007-05-23)
  188. ^ a b Livingstone, E.A.; Sparks, M. W. D.; Peacocke, R.W. (2013). "Ireland". The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford University Press. p. 286. ISBN 978-0199659623.
  189. ^ "Constitution of Ireland". Irish Statute Book. pp. Article 44. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  190. ^ Keogh, Dermot; McCarthy, Dr. Andrew (1 January 2007). The Making of the Irish Constitution 1937: Bunreacht Na HÉireann. Mercier Press. p. 172. ISBN 978-1856355612.
  191. ^ "Fifth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1972". Irish Statute Book. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  192. ^ Andrea Mammone; Giuseppe A. Veltri (2010). Italy today: the sick man of Europe. Taylor & Francis. p. 168 (Note 1). ISBN 978-0415561594.
  193. ^ "Luxembourg" (PDF).
  194. ^ "Constitución Política de Nicaragua 1939". www.enriquebolanos.org. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  195. ^ a b Offisielt frå statsrådet 27. mai 2016 regjeringen.no «Sanksjon av Stortingets vedtak 18. mai 2016 til lov om endringer i kirkeloven (omdanning av Den norske kirke til eget rettssubjekt m.m.) Lovvedtak 56 (2015–2016) Lov nr. 17 Delt ikraftsetting av lov 27. mai 2016 om endringer i kirkeloven (omdanning av Den norske kirke til eget rettssubjekt m.m.). Loven trer i kraft fra 1. januar 2017 med unntak av romertall I § 3 nr. 8 første og fjerde ledd, § 3 nr. 10 annet punktum og § 5 femte ledd, som trer i kraft 1. juli 2016.»
  196. ^ Rasmussen, Tarald; Bangstad, Sindre; Jacobsen, Knut A.; Groth, Bente (23 April 2018). "religion i Norge" – via Store norske leksikon.
  197. ^ "2017 – et kirkehistorisk merkeår". Den norske kirke, Kirkerådet. 30 December 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  198. ^ The Constitution of Norway, Article 16 (English translation, published by the Norwegian Parliament)
  199. ^ Lovvedtak 56 (2015–2016) Vedtak til lov om endringer i kirkeloven (omdanning av Den norske kirke til eget rettssubjekt m.m.) Stortinget.no
  200. ^ Under the 1967 Constitution, Roman Catholicism was the state religion as stated in Article 6: "The Roman Catholic Apostolic religion is the state religion, without prejudice to religious freedom, which is guaranteed in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution. Official relations of the republic with the Holy See shall be governed by concordats or other bilateral agreements." The 1992 Constitution, which replaced the 1967 one, establishes Paraguay as a secular state, as mentioned in section (1) of Article 24: "Freedom of religion, worship, and ideology is recognized without any restrictions other than those established in this Constitution and the law. The State has no official religion."
  201. ^ The modern Church of Scotland has always disclaimed recognition as an "established" church while remaining the national church. The Church of Scotland Act 1921 formally recognised the Kirk's independence from the state.
  202. ^ James H. Hutson (2000). Religion and the new republic: faith in the founding of America. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 22. ISBN 978-0847694341.
  203. ^ Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, [1].
  204. ^ "State Constitutions that Discriminate Against Atheists". godlessgeeks.com. Archived from the original on 17 October 2006. Retrieved 27 April 2007.
  205. ^ "Religious laws and religious bigotry – Religious discrimination in U.S. state constitutions". religioustolerance.com. Retrieved 27 April 2007.
  206. ^ "Laos Constitution 1947/1949" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 October 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  207. ^ a b ANP (15 September 2015). "Nepal scheidt hindoe en staat" [Nepal separates Hindu and state]. Trouw (in Dutch). Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  208. ^ Michael Atit (4 September 2020). "Sudan's Government Agrees to Separate Religion and State". Voice of America. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  209. ^ beykent.edu.tr, TC Anayasaları, 1921, 1924, 1961 ve 1982 Anayasalarını karşılaştırılması Archived 24 February 2020 at the Wayback Machine (in Turkish)
  210. ^ "sjintô". Encarta Encyclopedie Winkler Prins (in Dutch). Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum. 2002.

Further reading

[edit]
  • Rowlands, John Henry Lewis (1989). Church, State, and Society, 1827–1845: the Attitudes of John Keble, Richard Hurrell Froude, and John Henry Newman. Worthing, Eng.: P. Smith [of] Churchman Publishing; Folkestone, Eng.: distr. ... by Bailey Book Distribution. ISBN 1850931321
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=State_religion&oldid=1241431212"