Religion in Serbia

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Religion in Serbia by municipality, 2002 census

Serbia is a multi-religious country. The dominant religion is Orthodox Christianity (notably the Serbian Orthodox Church), but there are also some adherents of Islam (living mostly in the southwestern part of Serbia in the region of Sandžak or Raška, in the municipalities of Preševo and Bujanovac in southern Serbia, as well as in the disputed territory of Kosovo), and Catholic Christianity (living mostly in northern part of Vojvodina province), as well as adherents of other religious groups such are Protestant Christians, Jews, and others.

Demographics

2002 census

According to the last census in 2002, the most numerous religious groups in Serbia (excluding territory of Kosovo) were:

• Orthodox Christians - 6,371,584
• Catholic Christians - 410,976
• Muslims - 239,658
• Protestant Christians - 80,837
• Jewish - 785
• Oriental Religions - 530

Major religions

Orthodox Christianity

St. Mark's Church, Belgrade

Most of the citizens of Serbia are adherents of the Serbian Orthodox Church, while the Romanian Orthodox Church is also present in parts of Vojvodina inhabited by ethnic Romanian minority. Besides Serbs, other adherents of Orthodox Christianity include: Montenegrins, Romanians, Macedonians, Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Russians, Greeks, Vlachs and Roma, as well as one number of declared Yugoslavs and some Rusyns.

Orthodox Christianity is dominant in most of Serbia, excluding several municipalities and cities near border with neighboring countries where adherents of Islam or Catholic Christianity are more numerous as well as excluding two predominantly Protestant municipalities in Vojvodina and the territory of Kosovo, which is mostly populated by adherents of Islam. Orthodoxy also predominates in most of the large cities of Serbia, excluding the cities of Subotica (which is predominately Catholic) and Novi Pazar (which is predominately Muslim), as well as excluding large cities in Kosovo, all of which are predominately Muslim.

The identity of ethnic Serbs was historically largely based on Orthodox Christianity and on the Serbian Orthodox Church, to the extent of the claims that those who are not its faithful are not Serbs. However, the conversion of the south Slavs from paganism to Christianity took place before the Great Schism, the split between the Greek East and the Catholic West. After the Schism, those who lived under the Orthodox sphere of influence became Orthodox and those who lived under the Catholic sphere of influence became Catholic. Some ethnologists consider that the distinct Serb and Croat identities relate to religion rather than ethnicity. With the arrival of the Ottoman Empire, some Serbs and Croats converted to Islam. This was particularly, but not wholly, so in Bosnia. The best known Muslim Serb is probably either Mehmed Paša Sokolović or Meša Selimović. Since the second half of the 19th century, some Serbs converted to Protestantism, while historically some Serbs also were Catholics (especially in Dalmatia) or Greek Catholics.

Catholic Christianity

Catholic Christianity is present mostly in the northern part of Vojvodina, notably in the municipalities with Hungarian ethnic majority (Bačka Topola, Mali Iđoš, Kanjiža, Senta, Ada, Čoka) and in the multi-ethnic city of Subotica and multi-ethnic municipality of Bečej. The ethnic groups whose members are mostly adherents of the Catholic Christianity are: Hungarians, Croats, Bunjevci, Germans, Slovenes, Czechs, Šokci, Poles, etc. A smaller number of Roma, Yugoslavs, and Slovaks are also adherents of the Catholic Christianity. In the disputed region of Kosovo, 10% of the Albanians are Catholic. The ethnic Rusyns and a smaller part of the ethnic Ukrainians are adherents of the Eastern Catholic Church.

Protestant Christianity

The largest percentage of the Protestant Christians in Serbia on municipal level is in the municipalities of Bački Petrovac and Kovačica, where the absolute or relative majority of the population are ethnic Slovaks (most of whom are adherents of Protestant Christianity). Some members of other ethnic groups (especially Serbs in absolute terms and Hungarians and Germans in proportional terms) are also adherents of various forms of Protestant Christianity.

There are various neo-Protestant groups in the country, including Methodists, Seventh Day Adventists, Evangelical Baptists (Nazarene), and others. Many of these groups are situated in the culturally diverse province of Vojvodina. Prior to end of World War II number of Protestants in the region was larger.

According to the 2002 census, the largest Protestant communities were recorded in the municipalities of Kovačica (12,350) and Bački Petrovac (9,613), as well as in the second largest Serbian city Novi Sad (9,428), which is predominately Orthodox. While Protestants from Kovačica and Bački Petrovac are mostly Slovaks, services in most of the Protestant churches in Novi Sad are performed in the Serbian language.^[2]

Protestantism (mostly in its Nazarene form) started to spread among Serbs in Vojvodina in the last decades of the 19th century. Although, percentage of Protestants among Serbs is not large, it is the only religious form besides Orthodoxy, which is today widely spread among Serbs.

Islam

Islam is mostly present in the southwestern part of Serbia in the region of Sandžak or Raška (notably in the city of Novi Pazar and municipalities of Tutin and Sjenica), in part of southern Serbia (municipalities of Preševo and Bujanovac), as well as in the disputed region of Kosovo. Ethnic groups whose members are mostly adherents of Islam are: Bosniaks, Muslims by nationality, Albanians, Gorani, Turks, Arabs, Ashkali, and Egyptians. A smaller number of ethnic Roma are also adherents of Islam.

Judaism

As of 2002, there are 785 Jews in Serbia, mostly in the cities of Belgrade (415), Novi Sad (129), Subotica (89) and Pančevo (42).

Other religions

Hinduism

Hinduism in Serbia is represented by organisations such as the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, the Shri Chinmoy Mission, and the Vedanta Society.

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), or Hare Krishna movement, has been registered in Serbia as a religious community since 1989.^[3] ISKCON has a centre in Belgrade.

The Shri Chinmoy Mission has centres in Belgrade, Bor, Kikinda, Kruševac, Niš, Novi Sad, Subotica and Zrenjanin.

The Vedanta Society has a centre in Belgrade.

Slavic Neopaganism

Slavic Neopaganism (mostly called Rodnovery in the Slavic languages, a compound word of rodna "native" and vera "faith": Serbo-Croatian: Родноверје / Rodnoverje, Родна вера / Rodna vera) is a group of contemporary polytheistic, nativist and reconstructionistic religious groups reviving the ethnic religion of the Slavs. In 2011, in Serbian village of Mokra a group of enthusiasts, led by journalist Dragan Jovanović, erected a wooden statue of Svetovid. ^[4]

Religious sites in Serbia

• 

  Đurđevi Stupovi Orthodox monastery, near Novi Pazar

• 

  Bajrakli Mosque, only mosque in Belgrade

• 

  Synagogue in Belgrade

• 

  Mosque in Sjenica

• 

  Catholic Church in Bačka Topola

• 

  Eastern Catholic Church in Đurđevo

• 

  Mosque in Novi Pazar

• 

  Protestant Theological College in Novi Sad

See also

• Religion in Vojvodina

References

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