State religion
Categories: Religious law | Religion and politics
A state religion (also called an established church or state church) is a religious body or creed officially endorsed by the state. The term state church is associated with Christianity, and is sometimes used to denote a specific national branch of Christianity. Closely related to state churches are what sociologists call ecclesiae, though the two are slightly different. State religions are examples of the official or government-sanctioned establishment of religion, as distinct from theocracy.
Contents |
Types of state churches
The degree and nature of state backing for denomination or creed designated as a state religion can vary. It can range from mere endorsement and financial support, with freedom for other faiths to practice, to prohibiting any competing religious body from operating and persecuting the followers of other sects. 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, 1555.
In some cases, a state may have a set of state-sponsored religious denominations that it funds; such is the case in Alsace-Moselle in France, following the pattern in Germany.
In some communist states, notably the People's Republic of China, the state sponsors religious organizations, and activities outside those state-sponsored religious organizations are met with various degrees of official disapproval. In these cases, state religions are widely seen as efforts by the state to prevent alternate sources of authority.
Sociology of state churches
Sociologists refer to mainstream non-state religions as denominations. State religions tend to admit a larger variety of opinion within them than denominations. Denominations encountering major differences of opinion within themselves are likely to split; this option is not open for most state churches, so they tend to try to integrate differing opinions within themselves. An exception to this is the Church of Scotland which has split several times in the past for doctrinal reasons. Its largest offshoots were the Free Church of Scotland and the United Free Church of Scotland. These offshoots lost the established status of their parent, but since 1929 the reunited Church of Scotland has considered itself to be a "national church" rather than an established church, as it is entirely independent of state control in matters spirtitual.
Increasingly, sociologists of religion are using the concept of monopolies in economics as an analogy for state churches.
State religions typically exist in countries or jurisdictions where they the majority of residents are considered adherents; however much of this support is little more than nominal, with many members of the church rarely attending it. But the population's allegiance towards the state religion is often strong enough to prevent them from joining competing religious groups. Sociologists put this forward as an explanation for the religious differences between the United States and Europe: many sociologists theorise that the continuing vitality of religion in American life, compared to many European countries, is due to the lack of a state church at all during much of American history.
A denomination's status as official religion does not universally imply that the jurisdiction prohibits the existence or operation of other sects or religious bodies. It all depends upon the government and the level of tolerance the citizens of that country have for each other. Some countries with official religions have laws that guarantee the freedom of worship, full liberty of conscience, and places of worship for all citizens and implement those laws in society better than countries that do not have an official or established state religion.
Disestablishment
See also secular state.
Disestablishment is the process of divesting a church of its status as an organ of the state. In Britain there was a campaign by Liberals, dissenters and nonconformists to disestablish the Church of England in the late 19th century; it failed in England, but demands for the measure persist to this day. The Church of Ireland was disestablished in 1869 and the Church of England was disestablished in Wales in 1920, becoming the Church in Wales. Those who wish to continue with an established church take a position of antidisestablishmentarianism.
The First Amendment to the US Constitution explicitly bans the federal government from setting up a state church. This did not, when ratified, prevent state governments from establishing a church, and Connecticut continued to do so until she replaced her colonial Charter with the Connecticut Constitution of 1818. The Fourteenth Amendment forbids the states to violate the rights of citizens of the United States, those rights defended by the Constitution against the Federal Government; and thus prohibits state establishments also. The exact boundaries of this prohibition are still disputed and are a frequent source of cases before the US Supreme Court, especially as the court must reconcile the establishment clause of the First Amendment with the clause that prohibits restraints on the free exercise of religion. All present State Constitutions also include a clause parallel to the First Amendment.
Christian countries
The following states recognize some form of Christianity as their official religion (by denomination):
Roman Catholic
Jurisdictions which recognize Catholicism as their official religion:
- Andorra
- Argentina
- Bolivia
- Costa Rica
- El Salvador
- Liechtenstein
- Malta
- Monaco
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Some cantons of Switzerland
- Vatican City
Eastern Orthodox
Jusrisdictions which recognize one of the Eastern Orthodox Churches as their official religion:
- Cyprus
- Finland (along with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland)
- Greece
The Russian Federation recognizes the Russian Orthodox Church, the main sub-branch of the greater Eastern Orthodox Church, as well as Buddhism, Judaism, and Islam as all "official" and "indigenous" to Russian soil.
Oriental Orthodox
Jurisdictions which recognize one of the Oriental Orthodox Churches as their official religion:
Lutheran
Jurisdictions which recognize a Lutheran church as their official religion:
- Denmark
- Iceland
- Norway
- Finland (along with the Finnish Orthodox Church)
Until 2000, Sweden had the localized Lutheran Church as a state church. The Church of Sweden has now been relegated to the status of a national church.
Anglican
Jurisdictions which recognise an Anglican church as their state religion:
- England (as part of the greater United Kingdom) - Church of England
Reformed
Jurisdictions which recognize a Reformed church as their official religion:
- Scotland (as part of the greater United Kingdom) - Church of Scotland
- Some cantons of Switzerland
Islamic states
Countries which recognize Islam as their official religion:
- Afghanistan
- Algeria
- Azerbaijan
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Brunei
- Comoros
- Egypt
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Iraq
- Jordan
- Kuwait
- Libya
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Mauritania
- Morocco
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- Somalia
- Tunisia
- United Arab Emirates
- Yemen
States which recognize specifically Sunni Islam as their official religion:
- Algeria
- Saudi Arabia (as state-sanctioned religion)
- Somalia
States which recognize specifically Shia Islam as their official religion:
- Azerbaijan
- Iran (as state-sanctioned religion)
The Republic of Lebanon specifies both Sunni Islam and Shia Islam, along with the syncretist marginal Islam, known as the Druze religion, as all official religions.
Buddhist states
Countries which recognize Buddhism as their official religion:
- Bhutan (Lamaistic Buddhism as state-sanctioned religion)
- Cambodia (Theravada Buddhism)
- Myanmar, or formerly Burma (Theravada Buddhism, as the only legal, state-sanctioned religion)
- Thailand (Theravada Buddhism)
- Tibet (government-in-exile) (Tibetan Buddhism)
Hindu states
Country which recognizes Hinduism as their official religion:
Jewish states
Note: Officially, Israel has no state religion or established church. A few personal status laws, in particular regarding marriage and divorce, are governed by state-recognized Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and Druze authorities. As the Jewish state, however, its de facto state religion is Judaism.
Secular states
Secular states do not profess any state religion and attempt to treat all religions equally. Countries which are officially secular:
Established churches and former state churches in Europe
Note 1:
In 1967, the Albanian government made atheism the "state religion". This designation remained in effect until 1991.
Note 2: Finland's State Church was the Church of Sweden until 1809. As an autonomous Grand Duchy under Russia 1809-1917, Finland retained the Lutheran State Church system, and a national church separate from Sweden was established. Since the independence in 1917, both the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and the Finnish Orthodox Church have got a constitutionally established special status.
Former state churches in British North America
| Colony | Denomination | Disestablished1 |
|---|---|---|
| Connecticut | Congregational | 1818 |
| Georgia | Church of England | |
| Massachusetts | Congregational | 17802 |
| New Brunswick | Church of England | |
| New Hampshire | Congregational | 1790 |
| Newfoundland | Church of England | |
| North Carolina | Church of England | ≤ 1776 |
| Nova Scotia | Church of England | 1850 |
| Prince Edward Island | Church of England | |
| South Carolina | Church of England | |
| Upper Canada | Church of England | 1854 |
| Virginia | Church of England | 1786 |
| West Indies | Church of England | 1868 |
Note 1: In several colonies, the establishment ceased to exist in practice at the Revolution, about 1776; this is the date of legal abolition.
Note 2: Replaced by a system which required every man to belong to a church, and permitted each church to tax its members. This was not, in theory, an establishment; but was sufficiently oppressive in practice, to be abolished in 1833.
See also
de:Staatsreligion nl:Staatsgodsdienst ja:国家宗教 no:Statskirke sv:Statsreligion zh:國教