Church-state relations in Czechia

Tomas Havlıcek

Published online: 10 May 2007

� Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2007

Abstract The paper analyses the interaction of the

State and church in Czechia, a country that can be

characterised by a high degree of secularisation.

Nevertheless, a lot of religious activities still take

place in a secular state like Czechia and this even

extends to a ‘sacralisation’ of the landscape. How-

ever, the State does not interfere with the internal

structures of the individual churches or religious

communities. It only creates general conditions for

relations between the State and these churches and

communities. The co-existence of the State and the

church and the influence of religions on the State

reflect the pluralism of a post-modern society and

also of a post-communist state like Czechia.

This study is also intended to contribute to the

comparative research of church-state relations in

Central Europe, which have been influenced by

multi-confessional belts and especially Lutheran and

Catholic alliances (Madeley 2003). The aims of this

paper are threefold: (a) a description of the historic

development of the state-church relations in Czechi-

a; (b) an analysis of the challenge of that historic

pattern as regards secularization and globalization

and a significant rise in immigrant religions; (c) an

analysis of the impact on state-church relations of

re-territorialisation within the framework of the Euro-

pean Union and the dividing up of Czechoslovakia.

Keywords Religion � State � Czechia � Religious

landscape � Secularization

Introduction

The mutual influence of the State and religious

(church) power plays an important role in the

development of any society and the territory

connected to it. In the past, such relationships have

often undergone numerous changes, which were as

dependent on the type of secular power as on

individual religions (e.g. Geyer 2004; Madeley

2003). In the West (Huntington 1996), we find a

relatively substantial polarization between (a) North

America with its de-secularization (Berger 1999) and

politicization of religion (Proctor 2006; Zelinsky

2001) and (b) Europe with its secularization and the

rise of immigrant religion (Henkel and Knippenberg

2005; Knippenberg 2005). Madeley (2003) dealt with

church-state relations in Europe and removed the

state-economy dimension from the original Rokkan

model and replaced it with a confessional dimension.

He expanded Rokkan’s (West-European) model

backwards and forwards in time to include Eastern

Europe and divided Europe into three blocs (Lutheran

in the North, Catholic in the South and Orthodox

in the East) and two multi-confessional belts (the

T. Havlıcek (&)

Department of Social Geography and Regional

Development, Charles University, Albertov 6, 12843

Prague, Czech Republic

e-mail: tomhav@natur.cuni.cz

123

GeoJournal (2006) 67:331–340

DOI 10.1007/s10708-007-9061-4

historical NW-SE multi-confessional culture belt, and

the historical NE-SE multi-confessional culture belt)

(Madeley 2003; see also Knippenberg’s introduction

to this special issue). Czechia (Bohemia and Moravi-

a) was included in the NW-SE multi-confessional belt

with a high number of non-denominationalists. The

country also lies at an intersection (buffer zone) of

Rokkan’s typology between the West–East axis of the

state-economy dimension and the North–South axis

of the state-culture dimension.

In contrast to a single bloc the phenomenon of

multi-confessionalism has a different and specific

shape as highlighted by the dominance of non-

denominationalists and its very specific characterisa-

tion throughout Europe.

Given the currently available data on the share of

non-believers having reached around 60%, this

State’s situation is unique in Europe due to the much

smaller role of the church in society. The State is

therefore more dominant and the influence of

religions on the society and space is relatively weak.

In Czechia, society has been secularized to an extent

unheard of in the rest of Europe (Knippenberg 1998).

Both religious institutions and religious awareness

have consistently lost their social significance. The

focus of control in the social and cultural sphere has

shifted from the religious to the secular. People

dedicate less and less of their time and money to

spiritual matters (Luzny and Navratilova 2001).

The problem of church-state relations also has to

do with significant interdisciplinary factors. To

sociologists, politics and religion are two subsystems

in the global societal system, which, through social

system differentiation, are progressively more auton-

omous and dominated more by their own specific

determinism. They perform their roles in relation to

the global societal system in an increasingly separate

manner (Flere 2001).

Historians tend to refer to past problems and to

often outstanding church-state relations in a specific

region. They use such terms as secularization of

society and sacralisation of a nation or state (Geyer

2004). What then is the state and church relationship

within the territory of a markedly secularised state

when the role and influence of religion is a rather

marginal matter? Are there also religious influences

on society and space and, if so, what are these? It can

be assumed that even secular states like Czechia can

be characterised by a certain coexistence as shown by

religious displays, symbols and holy sites. After all,

religious elements themselves continue to be very

typical of the cultural landscape of Czechia and they

are even being restored (in what is referred to as

‘sacralisation’ of the landscape), mostly at the State’s

expense.

The aims of this paper are threefold: (a) a

description of the historic development of the state-

church relations in Czechia; (b) an analysis of the

challenge of that historic pattern as regards secular-

ization and globalization and a significant rise in

immigrant religions; (c) an analysis of the impact

on state-church relations of re-territorialisation within

the framework of the European Union and the

dividing up of Czechoslovakia.

Historical background

There was a very close long-term relationship

between religious and secular powers in Czech

history. This close mutual influence inevitably also

led to a lot of conflicts. Religion/Christianity was

already having a decisive effect during the delimita-

tion and stabilisation of the state formation of the

territory of today’s Czech Republic. Since the 10th

century, Czechia has been situated on the boundary

between the Orthodox Church from the East and the

Roman Catholic Church from the West. The western

influence of the Mainz episcopate strengthened in the

centuries that followed and the Catholic Church

gained decisive power. The increase in the influence

of the chancellor of Charles University and preacher

Jan Hus (also known as John Hus) led to the start of

the first phase of the reformation of the Roman

Catholic Church. After his burning at the stake, this

process was completed by the Hussite wars and

reformation efforts in the first half of the 15th

century. After this conflict there was a gradual

separation between church and State. After the era

of Luther and the Reformation in Europe, the territory

of the Czech lands increasingly fell under the

influence of the Protestant movements and churches

which were connected to regional secular power as

well (1555 Augsburg Peace Treaty, cuius regio, eius

religio). The efforts of the Protestant churches to take

over state power in the Czech lands (Bohemia and

Moravia) were finally repressed by a strong counter-

reformation by the Habsburgs after the Battle of

332 GeoJournal (2006) 67:331–340

123

White Mountain in 1621. Religions other than the

Catholic religion were banned by the Habsburgs and

this led to non-Catholic religions being made illegal.

After the ensuing large-scale emigration of Protes-

tants (for example Comenius to the Netherlands) or

their forced acceptation of the Catholic religion, there

was distinct baroque sacralisation of the landscape in

the form of sacral symbols (Calvary, chapels and

crosses) supported by the State. This sacralisation

through Catholic activities radically changed the

Czech landscape. The Roman Catholic Church as

the sacral power worked together with the secular

power of the Habsburg Empire. This narrow state-

church connection determined the development of the

Czech lands with different intensity until the disin-

tegration of the Habsburg Empire in 1918.

The creation of the country of Czechoslovakia in

1918 was accompanied by a significant separation

between State and church from the point of view of

the dominant Roman Catholic Church. However, on

the other hand, the Czechoslovak Hussite Church

originated on the basis of the example set by the

Church of England in Great Britain. Religious society

itself developed according to the English model and

therefore implied separation from the Roman Cath-

olic Church and significant Protestant practices (e.g.

the abolition of celibacy, the receiving of the

Communion consisting of consecrated bread and

wine, etc.). The Czechoslovak Hussite Church had

been closely connected with the State from the

beginning, not in the sense of religious issues but

rather from the functional/organisational point of

view.

Many believers, who resisted the strong re-

Catholicizing policy of the Austrian-Hungarian

double-Monarchy, became member of this Hussite

Church. The Hussite Church also encouraged people

to embrace strong national feelings (this formed the

basis of an independent Czechoslovakia) and to

take pride in its history as well. For that reason, there

was a revival of the Hussite movement in the 15th

century. Although the name of the church includes

the word Czechoslovak, it took root only in Czechia

and not in Slovakia, possibly with the exception of

big towns such as Bratislava and Kosice.

The new Czechoslovak state tried to use the some

strategy (church-state connection) to retain power in

a multi-ethnic state such as Czechoslovakia. The

Czechs converted quickly to the new church, unlike

the Germans or Slovaks. More than 10% of the Czech

population had joined this church before the Second

World War; after which there was a gradual decline.

In the end only 1% of the population declared that

they belonged to this ‘state’ church in 2001 (Havlıcek

2005). The majority of the population in Czechia

stated that they belonged to the Roman Catholic

Church, which has a long tradition in Czech society.

The Second World War and the time after brought

new changes to state-church relations and a new

arrangement of powers in Europe. There was distinct

restriction of the church structures’ influence in state

affairs during the Nazi and Communist dictatorships.

The state power itself borrowed religious thoughts

and behaviour and incorporated them into ideologi-

cally-oriented speeches. So-called political religions

(Maier 1995) emerged, based on the ideology from

the former religious structures, while former religions

were severely suppressed. The churches were very

strictly controlled by the State and church-state

relations were reduced to a minimum. Monasteries,

convents, churches and church land were nationalised

by the State. Church schools were closed and

Catholics were discriminated against in the education

system and in the workplace. A number of monks

and priests were arrested. The church had no

economic independence and the State paid all the

wages of priests and bishops. Up until 1989, the

Czechoslovak constitution even included a regulation

on eliminating religion, as an anachronism of an

exploitative society, from people’s minds (Article 16,

paragraph 3).

All of these means of repression by the State

brought about a significant increase in non-

denominationalists. Communist ideology related to

marked industrialisation and urbanisation and also the

transfer of 3 million predominantly Catholic German

inhabitants of the Czech borderland after the Second

World War caused a considerable slump in the

importance and the role of churches in Czech society.

The new state of affairs can be illustrated by the

situation in the borderland after the transfer of the

Germans. Nearly one third of the territory of Czechia

lost its religious and cultural roots, and newcomers to

the revised Czech borderland areas did not manage to

create a religious identify. The borderland immi-

grants came primarily from the Czech interior and

disliked the Catholic Church. Others came from the

Orthodox Church areas of Slovakia, Ukraine and

GeoJournal (2006) 67:331–340 333

123

Romania. These resettled areas also have the lowest

current levels of religious membership in Czechia.

Continuing pressure on churches by the communist

state power led to a further slump in the significance

of religion in Czechia. The church-state relations

were wholly and solely controlled and dictated by the

State and this led to a deepening of the divide

between Czech society and traditional Christian

churches. Unlike the development in neighbouring

Poland, where people were more favourably inclined

towards Catholicism even during communist suprem-

acy, Czechia underwent more and more marked

secularisation. The development of this secularisation

during the communist era cannot be analysed due to

the absence of any statistical data. Generally it can be

stated that the share of non-denominationalists

increased from 5.8% in 1950 to 39.9% in 1991

(Havlıcek 2005). Nevertheless, the 1991 figure for

non-denominationalists is a substantial underestimate

since the population was still influenced by positive

impulses following the fall of communism and was

quite biased in favour of religious ideas . Proof of full

secularisation was only provided by the 2001 census,

when 58.2% of the population declared themselves to

be non-denominationalists (Table 1).

During the communist period religious freedom

was seriously restricted. The communist government

did not allow religious activity that was not approved

Table 1 Czech population according to denomination (1991 and 2001)

Denomination 1991

(number)

1991

(%)

2001

(number)

2001

(%)

Change 91/01

(number)

Change 91/01

(%)

Roman Catholic Church 4,021,358 39.0 2,740,780 26.8 �1,280,605 �31.8

Evangelic Church of Czech

Brethren

203,996 2.0 117,212 1.1 �86,784 �42.5

Czechoslovak Hussite Church 178,036 1.7 99,130 1.0 �78,933 �44.3

Jehovah’s Witnesses 14,575 0.1 23,162 0.2 8587 58.9

Orthodox Church 19,354 0.2 22,968 0.2 3614 18.7

Evangelic Silesian Church 33,130 0.3 14,020 0.1 �19,110 �57.7

Brethren Evangelical Free Church 2759 0.0 9931 0.1 7172 259.9

Adventism 7674 0.1 9757 0.1 2083 27.1

Greek Catholic Church 7030 0.1 7657 0.1 645 9.2

Evangelical Free Church 3017 0.0 6927 0.1 3910 129.6

Apostolic Church 1485 0.0 4565 0.0 3080 207.4

Baptist Church 2544 0.0 3622 0.0 1078 42.4

Methodist Church 2855 0.0 2694 0.0 �161 �5.6

Old Catholic Church 2725 0.0 1605 0.0 �1120 �41.1

Judaism 1292 0.0 1515 0.0 223 17.3

New Apostolic Church 427 0.0 449 0.0 22 5.2

Unitarian 365 0.0 302 0.0 �63 �17.3

Mormons – – 1366 0.0 – –

Islam – – 3699 0.0 – –

Buddhism – – 6817 0.1 – –

Hinduism – – 767 0.0 – –

Hare Krishna Movement – – 294 0.0 – –

Others 21,085 0.2 208,858 2.1 200,716 951.9

Believers (total) 4,523,734 43.9 3,288,088 32.2 �1,235,646 �27.3

Non-denominationalists 4,112,864 39.9 6,039,991 59.0 1,927,127 46.9

Not identified 1,665,617 16.2 901,981 8.8 �763,636 �45.8

Czech population (total) 10,302,215 100 10,230,060 100 �72,155 �0.7

Source: CSU (2004): www.czso.cz

334 GeoJournal (2006) 67:331–340

123

by the state. The pretext for this was allegedly the

subsidization of religions. The state provided finan-

cial support to admissible religious communities and

had control over the religious denomination. At the

end of the communist period support was being

provided to a total of 18 admissible religious

communities (Havlıcek 2005).

The influence of state power on the development of

religion after the fall of communism

The State very deliberately interfered with churches

and regulated their functioning in the period of

communist supremacy. The newly-gained freedom to

worship and the resulting gradual separation of church

and state powers occurred in Europe and Czechia/

Czechoslovakia after the disintegration of the com-

munist bloc. Since the State confiscated a large amount

of church property, and given that this property has not

been returned to the full extent, the State still

participates in the partial financing of individual

churches (e.g. salaries of clerics). However, the State

does not interfere with the inner structures of individ-

ual religions and only creates general conditions for

relations between the State and churches.

The revolutionary events of 1989 brought an

immediate increase in religious independence. In

addition to the individual rights to belief and practice

guaranteed in the Constitution, Act No. 308 was

introduced in 1991 and set out the position of the

churches and religious organisations. This Act guar-

antees the non-interference of the State in many of the

day-to-day affairs of the church (O’Mahony 2003).

In 1991, a new law was passed relating to religious

freedom and the position of religious communities in

Czech society. One of the conditions necessary for

registration with the State concerned the number of

members in a religious community. In 1992, it was

stipulated that there had to be 10,000 adult members.

For religious organisations in the World Council of

Churches the requirement was 500 members. During

this very strictly controlled period only two new

religious communities were registered, bringing the

total number of registered religious institutions to 21.

Since 1989, the State has not interfered in any

significant way with the functioning of individual

churches and religious movements and has only

created general conditions for their activities. The

State registers and/or records churches and religious

societies as juridical persons according to the church

law within the scope of the Ministry of Culture of

Czechia. The current law is Act No. 3/2002 on

churches and religious movements. The law respects

freedom of worship and freedom of assembly to such

an extent that the State does not interfere in the inner

functioning of churches. The law also enables state

registration of churches and religious movements that

can provide evidence that they have more than 300

members with Czech citizenship who are over

18 years old. At present, 26 religious subjects are

registered and they have the right to participate in the

functioning of civil society in Czechia according to

the church law. Among other things, the law has also

introduced a so-called ‘higher degree’ of registration.

Only church or religious movements to which more

than 1% of the Czech population belong (at present

about 10,000 members) can, for example, establish

church schools, hospitals or other institutions with

social or educational activities. Churches or religious

movements registered before the year 1989 don’t

need to qualify for that provision.

The influence on the development of churches and

religious associations can be summed up in two ways.

First, the State tolerates and/or supervises freedom of

worship and, second, the State demonstrates aware-

ness and/or control of dangerous religious groups,

which do not propagate freedom of worship and do

not respect the valid laws of Czechia.

Another role of the State in this context is in the

sphere of quasi-religious or pseudo-religious displays

in society. The state power influences or even supports

these aspects. These are primarily ‘post-modern

temples’ like shopping centres, football or hockey

stadiums, etc. Last but not least, the State supports

quasi-religious-phenomena types of national/

state symbols such as statues, monuments and cem-

eteries dedicated to national saints, such as the statue

of St. Wenceslas in front of the National Museum or

the Slavın national cemetery at Vysehrad in Prague.

The above-mentioned phenomenon of the Czecho-

slovak Hussite Church is a good example of the

mutual links between the church and the State.

The number of worshippers of the Czechoslovak

Hussite Church grew quickly in the initial years, with

members mainly coming from the circles of towns-

men and the intelligentsia since the church was

unable to attract the rural population, which remained

GeoJournal (2006) 67:331–340 335

123

Catholic. In the 1950s, more than 10% of the

population professed to belonging to this church but

the rate was lower than 1% in 2001. The Czechoslo-

vak Hussite Church is concentrated primarily in the

large towns and in eastern and central Bohemia. This

church hardly spread at all to Moravia, i.e. the eastern

part of Czechia (Fig. 1).

After the end of the religious persecution by

communists, the number of followers of this ‘state’

church continued to decrease apace. In the 1991–

2001 period alone the number of believers dropped

by 44.3% and the number of members therefore fell

from 178,000 to 100,000 (Table 1). Because this

church primarily attracts members of the population

who are over 60, it can be assumed that this trend will

continue in the years to come. On the other hand, this

church has a relatively large amount of real estate, of

which only part is used for sacral purposes.

Since the fall of communism, the State has

approached the Czechoslovak Hussite Church like

any other registered church or religious association

and, these days, the former link between the State and

the church exists only in the church’s name. Of

course, the State (Czechoslovakia) responsible for the

origin of this church actually ceased to exist in 1993

and the splitting of Czechoslovakia evidently had an

impact on other factors of the church-state relations

as well. While the links between the State and the

church were closer in Slovakia, where the Slovak

Catholic Church played a very active role in the

creation of a number of laws, the influence of religion

on the State in Czechia had started to weaken. In

general terms, the initiatives undertaken by the

churches as regards forming state power are per-

ceived rather negatively by the Czech population.

There was also a difference in the fact that the

Christian-Democratic movement in Slovakia has

been in power for a relatively long period, while

the Christian Democrats in Czechia had much less

influence, despite being long-term participants in the

government coalitions. For example Czechia was the

first post-communist country to pass a law on

registered partnerships for same-sex couples, despite

serious opposition from the Christian Democrats

(Christian and Democratic Union––Czechoslovak

People’s Party). The position of churches in the two

new countries was therefore weakened even more

after the splitting up of Czechoslovakia.

The process of re-territorialisation within the

framework of the European Union has not had any

significant impact on church-state relations at state

level in Czechia after its accession to the EU in 2004.

However, on the other hand, cross-border cooperation

at micro-regional level and mainly in the borderland

areas is also taking place within the framework of

religious and cultural issues. Examples are pilgrim-

ages by Poles to holy sites in the Czech borderland

areas, which are also being supported by EU funding.

The different development of church-state relations

has been monitored in the Czech-German and the

Czech-Austrian borderlands. These relations are

mostly limited to the restoration of sacral objects,

which are gradually being made more visible, result-

ing in the gradual ‘sacralisation’ of the landscape.

Fig. 1 Percentage of

members of the

Czechoslovak Hussite

Church out of all believers

in Czechia shown per

municipality (2001)

336 GeoJournal (2006) 67:331–340

123

The State and/or secular power at both religious and

European levels are playing active roles primarily in

the promotion of religious-cultural events and also

invest frequently in very dilapidated religious objects.

Another significant impact of the accession of

Czechia to the EU is the gradual increase in

immigrants to Czechia. These people are more

religious than the rest of the Czech population and

are therefore partly responsible for slowing down the

general trend of secularisation in the country (see the

section on Immigrant religions).

Religion in Czechia is becoming increasingly

diversified and society is becoming more and more

secularized (Hamplova 2000). Large churches are

losing their followers and the membership of minor

Christian communities is growing. Furthermore, the

religious community in Czechia is becoming increas-

ingly fragmented. In 1921, only nine churches were

registered with the state authorities and today there

are 26 communities.

In spite of the considerable fragmentation of

religious communities in Czechia the State, that is

to say the Ministry of Culture of Czechia, tries to

view all registered churches in the same way, if at all

possible. The Ministry of Culture even initiated

bilateral talks among representatives of all registered

churches and the Minister of Culture. None of the

churches therefore holds a privileged position within

the framework of the church-state relations. It is only

necessary to handle the relationship of the State and

the Roman Catholic Church on the level of interna-

tional agreements, since the seat of this church is in

the Vatican, which is an independent state. Although

a new agreement between the Vatican and Czechia

was drawn up in 1989, it has not yet been ratified by

the Czech parliament. Generally, religious organisa-

tions in Czechia have little access to the political

arena. Their overriding experience has been one of

exclusion from debates on their status, future, or

financing (O’Mahony 2003).

The role of religion in the operation of the State

The impacts of religions on the development of the

State and society can be divided into several catego-

ries. The influence of religion on politics and political

structures is minimal in Czechia. This is in line with

the very small level of interest paid to religion in

Czech society as a whole. The Christian and Dem-

ocratic Union––Czechoslovak People’s Party is the

only religious-political institution that is noticeable in

this sphere. It is also the only religious party

represented in Parliament. The Christian-Democratic

Party has close links, primarily with the Roman

Catholic Church and its followers come primarily

from the electorate in rural and agricultural regions.

Regionally, it is concentrated in Moravia, which is in

the east and southeast of the country, where the

highest figures for religious involvement are found

(Havlıcek 2005). The results of sociological surveys

conducted at the level of districts in Czechia (77

units) refer to a rather distinct level of dependency

(0.754) between the people who vote for this political

party and the rate of religiosity in the given area

(Table 2). This also reflects the party’s stable electoral

potential. Apart from this dependency, there is also a

higher positive ‘ethnic’ links between Moravian and

Silesian nationalities and the level of religious

activity. On the other hand, a negative dependency

was recorded between the rate of religiosity and

criminality, and between religiosity and the number

of abortions and divorces (Table 2).

Churches and their institutions also play an active

role in the educational process. Individual churches

and religious movements have become involved in

this process since the fall of communism, i.e. since it

was possible to establish private schools in Czecho-

slovakia as of 1989. More than 100 church school

institutions, from nursery schools to colleges, have

been founded or restored since that date. However,

this number represents less than one percent of

all school institutions in Czechia. Church educational

institutions also teach pupils religious and ethical

behaviour in addition to basic education, which,

Table 2 Correlations between religiosity and selected

categories (2001)

Correlation coefficient

University education 0.328

Moravian, Silesian 0.679

Abortions �0.599

Divorces �0.576

Christian Dem. Union (Party) 0.754

Crime rate �0.653

Urban population �0.269

Source: Brotankova (2003, p. 85)

GeoJournal (2006) 67:331–340 337

123

naturally, has an impact on their thinking and

behaviour in civil society in a predominantly secular

state. Since the State pays for most of the costs of

these schools and given that the birth rate in Czechia

is very low, the Ministry of Education only very

rarely grants permission for founding a new church

school. This is, naturally, reflected in the constant

decrease in the influence of churches on the society.

On the other hand, the influence and importance of

church humanitarian organisations has increased.

Citizens of Czechia are becoming increasingly

involved in aid organised within the framework of

church humanitarian organisations, as awareness of

needy causes at home and abroad grows. The Charity

of the Roman Catholic Church, the Diaconia of

the Evangelic Church of Czech Brethren and also the

Adra association of the Adventism are among

the most important organisations in Czechia. These

church humanitarian organisations increasingly par-

ticipate in financial and material aid to affected areas

and are perceived very positively by Czech society.

Within the framework of the international com-

parison of post-communist countries, religious activ-

ities in Czechia also have a relatively small amount of

influence on state and/or civil decisions. Extensive

sociological research (nearly 7,000 respondents) into

the influence of religiosity on policy in the frame-

work of subjective decision-making of respondents

was carried out in post-communist countries at the

end of 1997 (Flere 2001). For example, according to

the question of the influence of religious conviction

on political attitudes, the analysed post-communist

countries can be divided into two groups (Table 3):

(a) the states in which religions have a strong

influence on politics (Slovakia, Poland, Croatia) and

(b) the states in which religions have a weak

influence (Former East Germany, Slovenia, Hungary

and Czechia). The percentage (8.6%) for Czechia is

nearly identical to the share of voters for the Christian

and Democratic Union––Czechoslovak People’s

Party in parliamentary elections, which is relatively

stable in the long term.

The interconnection itself between religious be-

liefs and religious political parties can also be

demonstrated using the example of the election of

Christian parties by Christian voters. The data

provide a picture of a predominant lack of a

connection between religiosity and political view-

point, a finding that fits perfectly into the picture of

secularisation. Only a minority of religious subjects

declare that their religious beliefs have an impact on

how they cast their vote. The greatest regional

difference in this dependency occurred among the

states of the former Czechoslovakia when Czechia

scored lowest and Slovakia highest (Flere 2001).

Religions also form the Czech landscape. The

process of sacralisation is manifested primarily in the

landscape, unlike the secularisation of society. A

significant number of religious symbols have been

restored (especially martyr pillars and crosses) and

religious buildings transformed. The restoration has

taken place predominantly on the basis of historical

motives rather than religious ones (support of

German and/or Austrian population from the Sude-

tenland) and cultural (state financial support of

cultural heritage). Sacralisation manifests itself in,

among other ways, the building of new religious

objects or in the conversion of secular buildings into

objects used for religious purposes (Havlıcek 2004).

Up to now, the sacralisation of the Czech landscape

has been analysed only in several model localities

and more detailed research needs to be carried out to

understand the phenomenon properly.

Immigrant religions

Though Czechia is one of the states with a low pro-

portion of foreigners (about 2.4%), their number is

increasing all the time. The reasons include a low

birth rate among Czechs and increasing immigration

into Czechia itself. Unlike Czechs, foreigners are not

generally non-denominationalists and therefore bring

with them the religions of their home countries. Most

Table 3 Proportion of the respondents that think that religious

conviction has an (strong or moderate) impact on his/her

political attitudes (1997)

State Strong or moderate impact (%)

Czechia 8.6

Slovakia 17.6

Former East Germany 6.9

Slovenia 6.2

Hungary 9.4

Croatia 24.7

Poland 20.5

Source: Flere (2001, p. 33)

338 GeoJournal (2006) 67:331–340

123

foreigners come from Eastern Europe (Ukraine,

Slovakia, Russia, etc.) and South-Eastern Asia (Viet-

nam and China). This corresponds to the rate of

religiosity. In 2003, an extensive survey among

foreigners (n = 700) living in four model areas (the

Prague agglomeration, the Southern Moravia region,

the West Bohemia region and the Elbe Euroregion)

was carried out for a longer period. This survey was

coordinated by the Institute of Sociology of the

Academy of Science in Czechia, with the Department

of Social Geography in Prague participating in this

research in the city of Prague. Apart from the aspects

of migration and work, the research also analysed

the religiosity of foreigners. This revealed two

marked differences from the majority of the Czech

population. Firstly, a much lower share of non-

denominationalists is recorded among foreigners

(37.4%) than among Czechs (59%) and, secondly,

the Orthodox Church (29.7%) is the dominant

religion in Czech society, and not the Roman

Catholic Church (26.8%). However, the share of

Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus (Table 1) is still

rather negligible compared to the states in Western

Europe (see Henkel 2001). Czechia is not, in the

long-term, a typical immigrant country for Muslims,

Buddhists or Hindus.

There are no distinct regional differences.

The only ones that do exist are between people

in the West Bohemia region and in the Southern

Moravia region, primarily in the categories ‘non-

denominationalists’ and ‘Orthodox church’ (Table 4).

The proportion of the followers of the Orthodox

Church and other religions from a cultural area

different to Jewish-Christian can be expected to

increase in the future due to increasing immigration.

As a result, there will be a partial change in religious

environments in society in Czechia as well as in

Western Europe.

Conclusion

Czechia’s situation as part of the historical NW-SE

multi-confessional belt between Lutheran, Roman-

Catholic and Orthodox mono-confessional blocs was

further complicated by its membership of the com-

munist bloc after World War II. This led to an atheist

state policy and strong secularisation of society. After

the 1989 velvet revolution and the fall of commu-

nism, however, the state-church relations had to be

developed in new ways. Now there is certainly more

freedom of worship, but 15 years after the fall of

communism, the conciliation between the Czech state

and the churches has not yet been completed. Neither

have the State and the church become completely

separated. Because the (communist) state confiscated

a large number of church estates, which have not yet

been fully returned to the churches, the State

participates in the partial financing of individual

churches (e.g. salaries of clerics). However, the State

does not interfere in the inner structures of the

different churches and only creates general conditions

for the relations between the State and the churches.

Only the existence of the Czechoslovak Hussite

Church, which is still the third largest church in

Czechia, reflects the pre-communist close links

between the State and the church. At present its

influence is constantly weakening.

The separation of Czechoslovakia had very differ-

ent effects in both new states. In predominantly

Roman Catholic Slovakia, a close connection be-

tween the State and the (Roman Catholic) church

developed, whereas in the secularised Czech Repub-

lic the ties between state and church loosened and the

political influence of the churches weakened even

further.

The current influence of the state on the develop-

ment of churches and religious associations can be

Table 4 Denomination of foreigners in Czechia (2003) and in model areas (n = 700)

Denomination City of

Prague (%)

South Moravia

region (%)

West Bohemia

region (%)

Elbe Euro-

region (%)

Foreigners

(total) (%)

Czechia (2001,

total) (%)

Orthodox 29.8 40.8 17.0 24.0 29.7 0.2

Roman Catholic 21.8 19.8 22.0 19.4 20.8 26.8

Protestant (total) 4.2 0.5 1.0 7.0 3.3 2.9

Non-denominationalists 37.6 32.4 49.0 34.8 37.4 59.0

Others (Muslims etc.) 6.6 6.5 11.0 14.8 8.7 2.2

Source: Havlıcek (2004, p. 100)

GeoJournal (2006) 67:331–340 339

123

summed up in two ways. Firstly, the State tolerates

and guarantees freedom of worship and, secondly, the

State demonstrates awareness and/or control of

‘dangerous’ religious groups that oppose freedom of

worship (such as the Alliance of Muslim Students)

and do not respect the rule of law.

The churches help carry out state operations

primarily due to their involvement in politics (The

Christian and Democratic Union––Czechoslovak

People’s Party), plus the role of church schools and

the initiatives of Christian humanitarian organisa-

tions, which is a common feature of post-modern

society. Moreover, in a highly secularised state like

Czechia, there is a relatively high number of religious

activities.

In addition to secularisation, foreign immigration

is also changing the religious landscape. Compared

with the total Czech population, Orthodox and

Protestant communities are over-represented, with

Catholics and non-denominationalists being under-

represented. Moreover, the first communities of

Buddhists, Muslims and Hindus have been formed.

These are new, but still very minor, elements in this

traditionally Jewish-Christian society.

The membership of the European Union has not

had any significant impact on church-state relations at

state level. However, at micro-regional level and

mainly in the borderland areas some cross-border

cooperation has developed in the field of religion and

culture.

Acknowledgement This paper is the result of research

findings sponsored by a financial grant, project GA AV:

No. IAA701110701 ‘‘Differentiation of changes of religious

landscape in Czechia during the period of transformation’’.

The author would like to thank the sponsors for their financial

support.

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