The Religion in Lithuania Lithuania (/ˌlɪθjuːˈeɪniə/, U.S. usually /ˌlɪθuːˈeɪniə/ ; Lithuanian: Lietuva), officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Respublika) is a country in Northern Europe, the southernmost of the three Baltic states. Situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, it shares borders with Latvia to the north, is predominantly Catholic The word catholic is derived from the Greek adjective καθολικός (katholikos), meaning "universal". The word derives from the Greek phrase καθόλο (kath'holou) meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general" and is a combination of the Greek words κατά meaning "about&, reflecting Lithuania's history, with a strong presence from other minorities. According to the most recent Eurobarometer Poll Eurobarometer is a series of surveys regularly performed on behalf of the European Commission since 1973. It produces reports of public opinion of certain issues relating to the European Union across the member states. The Eurobarometer results are published by the Public Opinion Analysis Sector of the European Commission - Directorate General 2005 2005 was a common year that started on a Saturday. In the Gregorian calendar, it was the 2005th year of the Common Era, or of Anno Domini; the 5th year of the 3rd millennium and of the 21st century; and the 6th of the 2000s decade,[1]
- 49% of Lithuanian citizens responded that "they believe there is a God"'.
- 36% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life-force".
- 12% answered that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life-force".
Contents |
Population by religious confession
- Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with more than a billion members. The Church's leader is the Pope who holds supreme authority in concert with the College of Bishops of which he is the head. A communion of the Western church and 22 autonomous Eastern Catholic churches (called - 79% (2,752,447 people)
- Orthodox Believers The Orthodox Church, also officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church[note 1] and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, asserts that it is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church established by Jesus Christ and his Apostles almost 2,000 years ago. The Church is composed of several self-governing ecclesial bodies, each - 4.05% (141,821)
- Old Believers In the context of Russian Orthodox church history, the Old Believers became separated after 1666–1667 from the official Russian Orthodox Church as a protest against church reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon. Old Believers continue liturgical practices which the Russian Orthodox Church maintained before the implementation of these reforms - 0.77% (27,073)
- Evangelical Lutherans Lutheranism is a theological movement to reform Christianity with the teaching of justification by grace through faith alone. Lutheranism identifies with the theology confessed in the Augsburg Confession and the other writings compiled in the Book of Concord. Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology - 0.56% (19,637)
- Evangelical Reformists The Reformed churches are a group of Christian Protestant denominations formally characterized by a similar Calvinist system of doctrine, historically related to the churches that first arose especially in the Swiss Reformation led by Huldrych Zwingli and soon afterward appeared in nations throughout Western and Central Europe. Each nation in - 0.2% (7,082)
- Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism; they report convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual Memorial attendance of over 18 million. They are - 0.1% (3,512)
- Sunni Muslims Sunni Islam is the largest denomination of Islam. It is also referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘ah (Arabic: أهل السنة والجماعة "people of the example and the community") or Ahl as-Sunnah (Arabic: أهل السنة) for short. The word Sunni comes from the word Sunnah (Arabic: سنة), which means the - 0.08% (2,860)
- All Gospel Churches - 0.06% (2,207)
- Pentecostal Church - 0.04% (1,307)
- Judaists - 0.04% (1,272)
- Balts Believers - 0.04% (1,270)
- Baptists Baptists are a group of Christian denominations, churches, and individuals who subscribe to a theology of believer's baptism , salvation through faith alone, Scripture alone as the rule of faith and practice, and the autonomy of the local church. They generally practice baptism by immersion (as opposed to affusion or sprinkling) and disavow (and other independent churches) - 0.04% (1,249)
- Other believers - 0.135% (4,701)
- Not any - 9.5% (331,087)
- Not indicated - 5.35% (186,447) (2001 census)[2]
Christianity
Roman Catholicism
Main article: Roman Catholicism in Lithuania Vilnius Cathedral79% of Lithuanians belong to the Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with more than a billion members. The Church's leader is the Pope who holds supreme authority in concert with the College of Bishops of which he is the head. A communion of the Western church and 22 autonomous Eastern Catholic churches (called.[3] Roman Catholicism has been the majority denomination since the Christianization of parts of Lithuania proper in 1387 (the Highland) and in 1413 (Samogitia Samogitia is one of the five ethnographic regions of Lithuania. It is located in northwestern Lithuania. Its largest city is Šiauliai/Šiaulē. The region has a long and distinct cultural history, reflected in the existence of the Samogitian dialect. Its status as a dialect rather than as an ISO-recognized language was challenged in the 2009s, the Lowland).[4]
Some Catholic priests led the resistance against the Communist regime which continued after independence against socialism and liberalism Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equality. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but most liberals support such fundamental ideas as constitutions, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights, capitalism, free trade, and the separation of church and state, especially in ethical questions.
The Hill of Crosses near Šiauliai, a shrine to the anti-communist resistance, was where thousands of Latin Rite The Latin Rite or Latin Church is the majority rite or particular church within the Catholic Church, comprising roughly 80% of its membership. The Latin Rite is one of the 23 sui iuris particular churches within the Catholic Church. This particular church developed in Western Europe and North Africa, where, from classical antiquity to the crosses A crucifix (from Latin cruci fixus meaning " fixed to a cross") is a usually three-dimensional cross with a representation of Jesus' body, referred to in English as the corpus (Latin for "body"), as distinct from a cross with no body. It is a principal symbol for many groups of Christians, and one of the commonest forms of the were placed. Latin crosses were forbidden on the hill by the Czarist, Russian Orthodox The Russian Orthodox Church ; or The Moscow Patriarchate (Russian: Русская Православная Церковь (Russkaya Pravoslavnaya Tserkov), or Московский Патриархат (Moskovskiy Patriarkhat) (the latter designation being another official name) since 1943, Поместная Российская Православ, authorities in 1800s. The Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR, Russian: Союз Советских Социалистических Республик, tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik IPA: [sɐˈjus sɐˈvʲeʦkʲɪx səʦɨəlʲɪˈstʲiʨɪskʲɪx rʲɪsˈpublʲɪk] , abbreviated СССР, SSSR), informally known as the Soviet Union (Russian: authorities continued the prohibition. Despite being bulldozed in 1961 the planting continued and Pope John Paul II The Venerable Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła (pronounced [ˈkaɾɔl ˈjuzɛf vɔi̯ˈtɨwa] ( listen); 18 May 1920 – 2 April 2005) served as Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005. His was the second-longest documented pontificate; only Pope Pius visited the hill during his visit to Lithuania.
Eastern Orthodoxy
Cathedral of the Theotokos, Vilnius Vilnius ( [ˈvilnʲus] , see also other names) is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 555,613 (847,954 together with Vilnius County) as of 2008. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius CountyEastern Orthodoxy The Orthodox Church, also officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church [note 1] and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, asserts that it is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church established by Jesus Christ and his Apostles almost 2,000 years ago. The Church is composed of several self-governing ecclesial bodies, each claims 4.1 % of the population, mainly the Russian minority.[3]
Protestantism
Protestants Protestantism is one of the four major divisions within Christianity together with the Eastern Orthodox churches, the Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Roman Catholic Church. The term is most closely tied to those groups that separated from the Catholic Church in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation makes up 0.8% of the population, mainly the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lithuania.[3]
In the 16th century, Protestantism Protestantism is one of the four major divisions within Christianity together with the Eastern Orthodox churches, the Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Roman Catholic Church. The term is most closely tied to those groups that separated from the Catholic Church in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation started to spread from Western Europe. A united reformed church organization in Lithuania's church province can be counted from the year 1557 at the Synod in Vilnius on December 14 of that year. From that year the Synod met regularly forming all the church provinces of The Grand Duchy of Lithuania, at first from two and later growing to six districts and representative district synods. The abbreviated name for the church is in Latin, Unitas Lithuaniae or in Polish, Jednota Litewska (Lithuanian church provincial union). It sent its representatives to the General Polish/Lithuanian Synods; however in its administration it was in fact a self-governing Church. The first Superintendent was Simonas Zacijus (Szymon Zacjusz, approx 1507–1591). In 1565 the anti- Trinitarian Lithuanian Brotherhood who rejected the learning of the Trinity separated from UL. The UL parish network covered nearly all of The Grand Duchy. Its district centers were Vilnius, Kedainai, Biržai, Slucke, Kojdanove and Zabludove later Izabeline.
Small Protestant communities are dispersed throughout the northern and western parts of the country. Samogitia was historically positioned between the two German-controlled states of Livonia Livonia is a historic region along the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It was once the land of the Finnic Livonians inhabiting the principal ancient Livonian County Metsepole with its center at Turaida. The most prominent ruler of ancient Livonia was Caupo of Turaida to the north and the Protestant formerly monastic, Teutonic State of Prussia East Prussia (German: Ostpreußen, pronounced [ˈɔstˌpʁɔʏsən] ; Polish: Prusy Wschodnie; Lithuanian: Rytų Prūsija or Rytprūsiai; Russian: Восточная Пруссия or Vostochnaya Prussiya) is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945 to its south. In the 16th century, from those two regions Lutheranism Lutheranism is a theological movement to reform Christianity with the teaching of justification by grace through faith alone. Lutheranism identifies with the theology confessed in the Augsburg Confession and the other writings compiled in the Book of Concord. Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology started to spread into the country. The majority of Prussian Lithuanians living in East Prussia and in Memelland (what is now the Klaipėda Region The Klaipėda Region or Memel Territory (German: Memelland or Memelgebiet; French: Territoire de Memel) was defined by the Treaty of Versailles in 1920 when it was put under the administration of the Council of Ambassadors. The Memel Territory, together with Saar and Danzig, was to remain under the control of the League of Nations until a future of modern Lithuania) were members of the Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union, and most of them were resettled in the Federal Republic of Germany A region named Germania, inhabited by several Germanic peoples, has been known and documented before AD 100. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire, which lasted until 1806. During the 16th century, northern Germany became the centre of the Protestant Reformation. As a modern nation-state, along with the rest of the East Prussian German Ethnic Germans , also collectively referred to as the German diaspora, are those who are considered, by themselves or others, to be of German origin ethnically, not necessarily born or living within the present-day Federal Republic of Germany, holding its citizenship or speaking the German language inhabitants after World War II Albania · Australia · Austria · Azerbaijan · Belarus · Belgium · Brazil · Bulgaria · Burma · Cambodia · Canada · Ceylon (Sri Lanka) · Channel Islands · China · Czechoslovakia · Denmark · Dutch East Indies · Egypt · Estonia · Finland · France · Germany · Gibraltar · Greece · Greenland · Hong Kong · Hungary · Iceland ·. Since 1945 Lutheran Protestantism in Lithuania has declined.
Various Protestant churches have established missions in Lithuania since 1990, including the United Methodists 122 Annual/Central Conferences, and 69 Episcopal Areas,[5] the Baptist Union Baptists are a group of Christian denominations, churches, and individuals who subscribe to a theology of believer's baptism , salvation through faith alone, Scripture alone as the rule of faith and practice, and the autonomy of the local church. They generally practice baptism by immersion (as opposed to affusion or sprinkling) and disavow,[6] the Mennonites The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders. The teachings of the Mennonites were founded on their belief in both the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ, which they held to with great,[7] and World Venture.[8]
Islam
A Mosque in Kaunas Kaunas (English pronunciation: /ˈkaʊnəs/; Lithuanian: [kɐˈunɐs], see also other names, is the second largest city in Lithuania and a former temporary capital. Kaunas is located at the confluence of the two largest Lithuanian rivers, the Nemunas and the Neris, and near the Kaunas Reservoir, the largest body of water entirely in Lithuania. Main article: Islam in LithuaniaIn Lithuania Lithuania (/ˌlɪθjuːˈeɪniə/, U.S. usually /ˌlɪθuːˈeɪniə/ ; Lithuanian: Lietuva), officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Respublika) is a country in Northern Europe, the southernmost of the three Baltic states. Situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, it shares borders with Latvia to the north,, Islam has a long history unlike many other northern European countries. The medieval Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was an Eastern and Central European state from the 12th /13th century until 1795. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the pagan Baltic tribes from Aukštaitija. The duchy later expanded to include large portions of the former Kievan Rus' and other Slavic lands, covering the territory of present-day Lithuania, of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth allowed Muslims, notably the Crimean Tatars Crimean Tatars or Crimeans (sg. Qırım, Qırımlı, pl. Qırımlar, Qırımlılar) are a Turkic ethnic group originally residing in Crimea. They speak the Crimean Tatar language. They are not to be confused with the Volga Tatars to settle in the lands in the south.[9] Some of people from those lands were moved into ethnically Lithuanian lands, now the current Republic of Lithuania, mainly under rule of Grand Duke Vytautas Vytautas (Lithuanian: Vytautas Didysis ; c. 1350 – October 27, 1430), often styled "the Great", was one of the most famous rulers of medieval Lithuania. With the title Didysis Kunigaikštis, the equivalent of king, he was the supreme ruler of his dominions and also a member of the Order of the Dragon. The Tatars, now referred to as Lithuanian Tatars, lost their language over time and now speak Lithuanian Lithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they are not mutually intelligible. It is written in an as natives; however, they have strongly maintained their Muslim A Muslim or Moslem is an adherent of the religion of Islam. Literally, the word means "one who submits (to God)". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. All Muslims observe Sunnah, but differences in the definition of what is and what is not Sunnah has led to the emergence of sectarian movements.[ faith.
Judaism
Main article: Lithuanian Jews Lithuanian Jews are Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews with roots in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania:According to the 2001 census, there were 1,272 adherents of Rabbinic Rabbinic Judaism or Rabbinism has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the sixth century CE, after the codification of the Talmud. Rabbinic Judaism gained predominance within the Jewish diaspora between the second to sixth centuries CE, with the development of the oral law and the Talmud to control the interpretation of Jewish scripture and and Karaite Judaism Karaite Judaism or Karaism (Hebrew: יהדות קראית , Modern Yahadut Qara'it Tiberian Qārāʾîm ; meaning "Readers of the Hebrew Scriptures" or "followers/seekers of Torah/Tanakh-based Judaism") is a Jewish movement characterized by the recognition of the Tanakh alone as its supreme religious authority. It is distinct.[10]
Karaites
According to a Karaite Karaite Judaism or Karaism (Hebrew: יהדות קראית , Modern Yahadut Qara'it Tiberian Qārāʾîm ; meaning "Readers of the Hebrew Scriptures" or "Tanakh-based Judaism") is a Jewish movement characterized by the recognition of the Tanakh alone as its supreme legal authority in Halakha, as well as in theology. It is tradition several hundred Crimean Karaites The Crimean Karaites , also known as Karaim and Qarays, are a community of ethnic Turkic adherents of Karaite Judaism in Eastern Europe. "Qaray" is a Romanized spelling of the original name "къарай", while "Karaim" is a Russian, Ukrainian, Lithuanian, and Polish name for the community. Originally centered in were invited to Lithuania by Grand Duke Vytautas Vytautas (Lithuanian: Vytautas Didysis , Belarusian: Вітаўт, Polish: Witold Kiejstutowicz; styled "the Great" from the 15th century onwards; c. 1350 – October 27, 1430) was one of the most famous rulers of medieval Lithuania. Vytautas was the ruler (1392–1430) of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania which chiefly encompassed the to settle in Trakai Trakai ( Trakai ) is a historic city and lake resort in Lithuania. It lies 28 km west of Vilnius, capital of Lithuania. Because of its proximity to Vilnius, Trakai is a popular tourist destination. Trakai is the administrative centre of Trakai district municipality. The town covers 11.52 km2 of area and, according to 2007 estimates, is inhabited ca. 1397. A small community remains in Trakai today, which has preserved the Turkic The Turkic languages constitute a language family of at least thirty five languages, spoken by Turkic peoples across a vast area from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean to Siberia and Western China, and are considered to be part of the proposed Altaic language family Karaim language The Karaim language is a Turkic language with Hebrew influences, in a similar manner to Yiddish or Ladino. It is spoken by Crimean Karaites (also known as Karaims and Qarays) - ethnic Turkic adherents of Karaite Judaism in Crimea, Lithuania, Poland and western Ukraine. It has six remaining active speakers. The three main dialects are those of and distinctive customs, such as its traditional dish called "kibinai", a sort of meat pastry, and its houses with three windows, one for God, one for the family, and one for Grand Duke Vytautas.
Romuva
A neo-pagan Romuva, established in 1967, attempts to reconstruct ancient Lithuanian mythology.[11]
See also
|
Tue, 25 May 2010 17:41:38 GMT+00:00
Baltic Reports In this part of Europe, there are three notable exceptions: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania . Finland ratified the charter in 1994. Sweden ratified it in 2000 ...
281px x 600px | 66.00kB
[source page]
inside or outside of cycles Order of cycles is chaotic During his 10 years experience as a farmer Bytautas formerly specialist in land reclamation have never witnessed such phenomena Mr Bytautas claims also that he ve noticed another abnormality There are still no parasites as flea beetles common to the fields in that time of the year When crop circles had happened
Sotto Voce
Sun, 14 Sep 2008 16:17:46 GM
"the defence of faith was regarded as integral to defending . lithuanian. identity, culture and and the nation," said luidas jovaisa, a . lithuanian. academic specialising in the history of . religion. . as a province of tsarist russia during the ...
