Croatia Religious Records

Demographics

According to the 2011 census the majority of Croatians (86%) belong to the Roman Catholic Church. Croatia and Poland are the two most Catholic Slavic countries. Orthodox Christians make up 4.42 percent of the population, Muslims 1.47 percent, and Protestants 0.41 percent of the population. 4.57% of Croatians are non-believers or agnostics.[1] In the Eurostat Eurobarometer Poll of 2005, 67% of the population of Croatia responded that "they believe there is a God". In a 2009 Gallup poll, 70% answered yes to the question "Is religion an important part of your daily life?"[2]

Interaction between religious and secular life 

Public schools allow religious teaching in cooperation with religious communities having agreements with the state, but attendance is not mandated Religion classes (Croatian: vjeronauk) are organized widely in public elementary and secondary schools, most commonly coordinated with the Catholic Church.

The public holidays in Croatia also include the religious festivals (Croatian: blagdan) of Epiphany, Easter Monday, Corpus Christi Day, Assumption Day, All Saints' Day, Christmas, and St. Stephen's or Boxing Day. The primary holidays are based on the Catholic liturgical year, but other believers are legally allowed to celebrate other major religious holidays.

Marriages conducted by the religious communities having agreements with the state are officially recognized, eliminating the need to register the marriages in the civil registry office.

Denominations

he Roman Catholic Church in Croatia receives state financial support and other benefits established in concordats between the Government and the Vatican. The concordats and other government agreements with non-Roman Catholic religious communities allow state financing for some salaries and pensions for religious officials through government-managed pension and health funds.[3]

The concordats and agreements also regulate public school catechisms and military chaplains.[3]

In line with the concordats signed with the Roman Catholic Church and in an effort to further define their rights and privileges within a legal framework, the government has additional agreements with the following 14 religious communities:[3] [4]

Serb Orthodox Church (SPC) Islamic Community of Croatia Evangelical Church Reformed Christian Church in Croatia Protestant Reformed Christian Church in Croatia Pentecostal Church Union of Pentecostal Churches of Christ Christian Adventist Church Union of Baptist Churches Church of God Church of Christ Reformed Movement of Seventh-day Adventists Bulgarian Orthodox Church Macedonian Orthodox Church Croatian Old Catholic Church References Jump up ^ "Population by religion, by towns/municipalities". Census. Croatian Bureau of Statistics. 2001.   Jump up ^ "Gallup Global Reports". Gallup. Retrieved 2013-10-07. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e ""Croatia Religion" - Electronic version". CountryReports. 2009. Retrieved September 26, 2009. Jump up ^ "Articles in NN196/03, including five contracts with ten religious communities". Narodne novine - Službeni list Republike Hrvatske (in Croatian). Narodne novine. December 15, 2003. Retrieved February 16, 2010. Jump up ^ "Evidencija vjerskih zajednica u Republici Hrvatskoj" (in Croatian). Ministry of Public Administration. Retrieved 2013-10-07.

External links

Registry of Religious Communities, Ministry of Public Administration, Government of the Republic of Croatia (Croatian)