Religion in Hungary: main directions, temples, synagogues

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

As in most European countries, the most influential and widespread religion in Hungary is Christianity. According to data for 2011, about 3.9 million people identify themselves as Catholics, which is more than a third of the total population of the country. However, Hungary is a state rich in terms of religious directions, and religious diversity does not end with Catholicism alone.

Country Brief

Hungary as a state dates back to 895 - the year of the formation of the Hungarian principality. Since the country is located in Central Europe, it has no access to the sea. It borders with Austria, Slovakia, Romania, Croatia. On the map, Hungary covers an area of 93 thousand km2, where 9.8 million people live (92% of them are Hungarians). About 1.7 million live in the capital of the state - Budapest.

Hungary has been a NATO member since 1999 and joined the European Union in 2004. The country's economy is developing steadily, as evidenced not only by a relatively high GDP of $152 billion ($15,500 per capita), but alsoits growth rate is 4% in 2017. The Human Development Index is also high - 0.83 (37th in the world).

Religion Brief

More than 2/3 of the inhabitants of Hungary believe in God - this is more than 5 million people. According to research data for 2011, 2.7 million people refused to answer the question about their belonging to any religion. About 1.8 million inhabitants do not identify themselves with any of the existing religions. Most of the believers, more than a third of all the inhabitants of the country, are Catholics and Greek Catholics.

In addition to Catholicism, one of the leading religions in Hungary is Protestantism in the form of its two main directions: Calvinism and Lutheranism. The number of Calvinists significantly exceeds the number of Lutherans - 1.2 million parishioners against 215 thousand. The number of Orthodox and Jews is insignificant, their total number does not exceed 25 thousand people.

Hungary has rather lenient laws regarding religious organizations. There are more than 300 of them in the country, but only 5 religions received state financial support. This world religion is Christianity (Catholicism and Orthodoxy). In addition to her, Protestantism, Judaism and the Church of Faith found support. Since 1998, the parishioners of any church can, if they wish, give 1% of income tax at the disposal of a religious organization.

Recently, there has been a tendency in Hungary to reduce the number of believers: over 10 years, the number of Catholics has decreased from 5.5 million to 3.8 million, and Protestants - from 2 million to 1.3 million people. Also doubledthe number of people who did not want to answer the question of correspondents about their religious affiliation - up to 2.7 million people.

Catholicism in Hungary

Christianity in the form of Catholicism began to spread among the Hungarians in the 950s, which is associated with the activities of missionaries from Germany. The issue of religion was first taken up in earnest by Prince Stefan I, in baptism Stefan I the Saint (1001-1038). After taking the title of King of Hungary, he began the planting of a new faith. Under him, 2 archbishoprics and 8 bishoprics were formed in the state, the first monasteries were built, and missionaries actively preached Christianity. After his death, the remaining pagans declared an uprising, which was quickly put down.

Until the Reformation, most of the Hungarians remained Catholics. However, by the end of the 16th century, Protestant sentiments were strongly entrenched in Hungary. At the moment, there are 3 times fewer Protestants in the country than Catholics - Catholicism remains the dominant religion in Hungary. As of 2011, the church, which consists of 5 archdioceses and 10 dioceses, has 3.9 million parishioners. The Primate of Hungary - the head of the Catholic Church in the country - is now Cardinal Peter Erde.

Catholic churches in Hungary

In addition to the 16 "small basilicas" - temples that were given special status by the Pope because of their antiquity and historical importance - there are two main basilicas in Hungary: St. Adalbert and St. Stephen. The first one is located in the city of Esztergom, the spiritual center of the country.

St. Adalbert's Basilica(Esztergom Basilica) is not only the largest church in Hungary, but also the highest building in the country. The ratio of the length and width of the structure is 118 by 49 meters, respectively, the height is 100 meters. The architectural style in which the basilica was built is neoclassicism. Esztergom Basilica dates back to the beginning of the 11th century, from the reign of Stephen I. Now it is the chair of the Hungarian primate.

In Budapest, the capital of Hungary, there is the second most important temple - the Basilica of St. Stephen. The construction of the cathedral began in 1851 and lasted 54 years. In 1905 the temple was consecrated and 33 years later it was given the status of a minor basilica. The scale of the Budapest Basilica is smaller than that of Esztergom. However, the height of 96 meters makes it one of the tallest buildings in Hungary. The architectural style of St. Stephen's Basilica is neoclassical.

Protestantism in Hungary

The ideas and moods of the beginning of the 16th century, born by the activities of Martin Luther and giving rise to the Reformation period, did not bypass Hungary either. In the 1520s, Protestantism in the form of Lutheranism began to spread first among the German-speaking population, and then among the upper class, the clergy. Already after half a century, about 80% of the population of Hungary professed Protestantism, but of the Calvinist kind.

The situation did not change during the Turkish conquests of the XVI-XVII centuries. The Ottomans were condescending towards the religion of the Hungarian people. However, in the early 1720s, Catholicism strongly pressed the positions of Protestantism: the transition to it is considered a crime, the activities of Protestants are severely limited. At the moment, their number is less than the number of Catholics - about 1.4 million people. Moreover, most of the Protestants on the map of Hungary are concentrated in the Zatis region. Most of them are members of the Hungarian Reformed Church.

Orthodoxy and Orthodox churches

Historically, the number of Orthodox in Hungary does not exceed 1% of the total number of all believers. As of 2011, only 13.7 thousand people consider themselves Orthodox. More than half of them are Serbs, whose ancestors moved to Hungary as early as 1690. The rest are Ukrainians, Romanians, Russians. Orthodox believers in Hungary are members of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

The main Orthodox church in the country is the Assumption Cathedral in Budapest. Its construction began in 1791 and was completed in 10 years. Decorated in the Baroque style. Since 1950, the cathedral has been under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church. At the moment, the Assumption Cathedral is active: services are held daily in it. They are all held in Hungarian. In 2016, the Hungarian authorities allocated funds in the amount of HUF 100 million to restore the second tower of the cathedral, destroyed during World War II.

Judaism and Jewish temples

Most of the Jews live in the capital of the country - Budapest, inquarter of Pest - the flat part of the city. In total, there are about 48 thousand ethnic Jews in Hungary, of which 10 thousand profess Judaism. The number of Jewish population in the country is not so large due to the devastating consequences of the First and Second World Wars, the Holocaust and the Hungarian events of 1956.

The main Jewish temple in Hungary is the Great Synagogue in Budapest, which is also the largest synagogue in Europe. This large temple accommodates 3 thousand worshipers, which is possible due to the huge area of \u200b\u200bthe premises of 1200 m2. It was built over 5 years, from 1854 to 1859. Decorated in neo-Moorish style by architect Ludwig Foerster.

General conclusion

The most common religion in Hungary is Catholicism, followed by Protestantism. The Catholic Church in the country as of 2011 has 3.9 million parishioners, which, however, is 1.7 million less than in 2001. With regards to Protestantism, Calvinism (1.2 million people) is more widespread in Hungary than Lutheranism (215 thousand people). The state financially supports Christianity, Protestantism, Judaism and the Church of Faith.

Hungary has many temples and cathedrals of various denominations. Especially among them stand out Catholic churches - basilicas. There are two main cathedrals in Esztergom and Budapest: the Basilica of St. Adalbert and St. Stephen. In addition to basilicas, there are other churches in Hungary: Orthodox, Protestant, Jewish. Of the Orthodox cathedrals, the most famous isAssumption Cathedral, from the Jewish - the Great Synagogue, located in Budapest.