State religion

Nations with state religions:

  Theravada Buddhism or Vajrayana Buddhism

  Islam

  Shi'a Islam

  Sunni Islam

  Eastern Orthodox Christianity

  Protestantism and Anglicanism

  Roman Catholicism

  No state religion

A state religion (also called an official religion, established church or state church) is a religious body or creed officially endorsed by the state. Practically, a state without a state religion is called a secular state, while a state governed by clergy is a theocracy.

The term state church is associated with Christianity, historically the state church of the Roman Empire, and is sometimes used to denote a specific modern national branch of Christianity. Closely related to state churches are what sociologists call ecclesiae, though the two are slightly different.

State religions are official or government-sanctioned establishments of a religion, but neither does the state need be under the control of the church (as in a theocracy), nor is the state-sanctioned church necessarily under the control of the state.

The institution of state-sponsored religious cults is ancient, reaching into the Ancient Near East and prehistory. The relation of religious cult and the state was discussed by Varro, under the term of theologia civilis ("civic theology"). The first state-sponsored Christian church was the Armenian Orthodox Church, established in 301 AD.

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 to 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 England the monarch imposed Protestantism in 1533, with himself taking the place of the Pope, while in Scotland the Church of Scotland opposed the religion of the ruler.

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 under its local law, following the pattern in Germany.

In some communist states, notably in North Korea and Cuba, 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.

State church vs state religion

There is also a difference between a "state church" and "state religion". A "state church" is created by the state, as in the cases of the Anglican Church, created by Henry VIII or the Church of Sweden, created by Gustav Vasa. An example of "state religion" is Argentina's acceptance of Roman Catholicism as its religion. In the case of the former, the state has absolute control over the church, but in the case of the latter, in this example, the Vatican has control over the church.

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.

Many sociologists now consider the effect of a state church as analogous to a chartered monopoly in religion.

Where state religions exist, it is usually true the majority of residents are officially considered adherents; however, in some cases support is little more than nominal with many members not practicing the religion regularly such as the case with the Anglican Church in England. In other cases, such as in many countries that have Islam as a state religion, the proportion of practicing members is quite high and other religions' presence in the country is negligible.

A denomination's status as official religion does not always 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 other religions. 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 more than other countries that do not have an official or established state religion.

Disestablishment

Further information: Secular state

Disestablishment is the process of depriving a church of its status as an organ of the state. Supporters of retaining an established church call themselves "antidisestablishmentarianists" — one of the longest words in the English language.

State religions by country

Canada

Section Two of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees freedom of religion. Progressively, case law has led to the overturning of specific laws that reflected religious observances (essentially Christian). Notwithstanding this, Roman Catholic schools are constitutionally protected and funded by taxes in some provinces.

United Kingdom

England

In late-19th-century England there was a campaign by Liberals, dissenters and nonconformists to disestablish the Church of England which was viewed, in the period after civil Chartist activism, as a discriminatory organisation placing employment and other access disabilities on non-members.

The campaigners styled themselves "Liberationists" (the "Liberation Society" was founded by Edward Miall in 1853). Though their campaign failed, nearly all of the legal disabilities of nonconformists were gradually dismantled. The campaign for disestablishment was revived in the 20th century when Parliament rejected the 1929 revision of the Book of Common Prayer, leading to calls for separation of Church and State to prevent political interference in matters of worship. In the late 20th century, reform of the House of Lords also brought into question the position of the Lords Spiritual. Another issue of controversy is the Act of Settlement 1701 which determines succession to the British monarchy, under which the head of state is also the head of the Church of England.

Scotland

Despite some official documentation (marriage registrations being a common example) describing the Church of Scotland as the "Established Church" the Kirk has always disclaimed that status. This was eventually acknowledged by the United Kingdom government within the Church of Scotland Act 1921. Since it has thus never been legally Established it cannot be disestablished.

Wales

Main article: Welsh Church Act 1914

In Wales, four Church of England dioceses were disestablished in 1920, becoming separated from the Church of England in the process and subsequently becoming the Church in Wales.

Ireland

Main article: Irish Church Act 1869

The (Anglican) state church was disestablished in 1871, becoming the Church of Ireland. The Constitution of Ireland, in force since 1937, prohibits the state from endorsing any religion as an established church. Formerly, the constitution recognised the "special position" of the Catholic Church "as the guardian of the Faith professed by the great majority of the citizens", in addition with other religions, but these provisions were removed by the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland in 1973.

United States of America

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution explicitly forbids the federal government from enacting any law respecting a religious establishment, and thus forbids either designating an official church for the United States, or interfering with State and local official churches — which were common when the First Amendment was enacted. It did not prevent state governments from establishing official churches. Connecticut continued to do so until it replaced its colonial Charter with the Connecticut Constitution of 1818; Massachusetts retained an establishment of religion in general until 1833. (The Massachusetts system required every man to belong to some church, and pay taxes towards it; while it was formally neutral between denominations, in practice the indifferent would be counted as belonging to the majority denomination, and in some cases religious minorities had trouble being recognized at all.) As of 2010 Article III of the Massachusetts constitution still provides, "... the legislature shall, from time to time, authorize and require, the several towns, parishes, precincts, and other bodies politic, or religious societies, to make suitable provision, at their own expense, for the institution of the public worship of God, and for the support and maintenance of public Protestant teachers of piety, religion and morality, in all cases where such provision shall not be made voluntarily."

The Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1868, makes no mention of religious establishment, but forbids the states to "abridge the privileges or immunities" of U.S. citizens, or to "deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law". In the 1947 case of Everson v. Board of Education, the United States Supreme Court held that this later provision incorporates the First Amendment's Establishment Clause as applying to the States, and thereby prohibits state and local religious establishments. The exact boundaries of this prohibition are still disputed, and are a frequent source of cases before the U.S. Supreme Court — especially as the Court must now balance, on a state level, the First Amendment prohibitions on government establishment of official religions with the First Amendment prohibitions on government interference with the free exercise of religion. See school prayer for such a controversy in contemporary American politics.

All current State constitutions do mention a Creator, but include guarantees of religious liberty parallel to the First Amendment, but eight (Arkansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas) also contain clauses that prohibit atheists from holding public office. However, these clauses have been held by the U.S. Supreme Court to be unenforceable in the 1961 case of Torcaso v. Watkins, where the court ruled unanimously that such clauses constituted a religious test incompatible with the religious test prohibition in Article 6 Section 3 of the United States Constitution.

Predominant religions in secular states

More than 90 percent of the respective populations:

• Roman Catholic – Italy, Luxembourg, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Venezuela, and East Timor
• Islam – Azerbaijan, Gambia, Kosovo, Mali, Senegal, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan
• Buddhism – Burma

Present state religions

Currently, the following religions are recognized as state religions in some countries: some form of Christianity, Islam and Buddhism.

Christian countries

Further information: state church

The following states recognize some form of Christianity as their state or official religion (by denomination):

Roman Catholic

Jurisdictions which recognize Roman Catholicism as their state or official religion:

• Costa Rica
• Liechtenstein
• Malta
• Monaco
• Vatican City (Holy See)

A number of countries, including Andorra, Argentina, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Italy, Indonesia, Haiti, Honduras, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Switzerland give a special recognition to Catholicism in their constitution despite not making it the state religion.

Eastern Orthodox

Jurisdictions which recognize one of the Eastern Orthodox Churches as their state religion:

• Greece (Church of Greece)
• Finland: Finnish Orthodox Church has a special relationship with the Finnish state. The internal structure of the church is described in the Orthodox Church Act. The church has a power to tax its members and corporations if a majority of shareholders are members. The church does not consider itself a state church, as the state does not have the authority to affect its internal workings or theology.

De-facto state religion status:

• Georgia: Georgian Orthodox Church

Protestantism

Lutheran

Jurisdictions which recognize a Lutheran church as their state religion include the Nordic countries. Membership is very high among the general population, however the amount of actively participating members and believers is considerably lower than in many other countries with similar membership statistics. Furthermore, all of these churches have lately seen decline in the fraction of the population being members.

• Denmark (Church of Denmark)
• Iceland (Church of Iceland) (79% of population members at the end of 2009)
• Norway (Church of Norway) (80% of population members at the end of 2009)
• Finland: Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland has a special relationship with the Finnish state, its internal structure being described in a special law, the Church Act. The Church Act can be amended only by a decision of the Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church and subsequent ratification by the parliament. The Church Act is protected by the Finnish constitution, and the state can not change the Church Act without changing the constitution. The church has a power to tax its members and all corporations unless a majority of shareholders are members of the Finnish Orthodox Church. The state collects these taxes for the church, for a fee. On the other hand, the church is required to give a burial place for everyone in its graveyards. (79% of population members at the end of 2009). The Finnish president also decides the themes for the intercession days. The church does not consider itself a state church, as the Finnish state does not have the power to influence its internal workings or its theology, although it has a veto in those changes of the internal structure which require changing the Church Act. Neither does the Finnish state accord any precedence to Lutherans or the Lutheran faith in its own acts.
• Sweden relegated their state church into a national church in 2000. In late 2009 the church of Sweden had 71.3% of the population as its members in 2009.

Reformed

Jurisdictions which recognize a Reformed church as their state religion:

• Tuvalu (Church of Tuvalu)

Anglican

See also: State_religion § Tabular_summary

Jurisdictions that recognise an Anglican church as their state religion:

• England (Church of England)

Muslim countries

Main articles: Political aspects of Islam, Sharia, Caliphate, Religious police, and Islamism

Almost all Muslim-majority countries recognize Islam as their state religion.

Sunni Islam

• Afghanistan
• Algeria (De-facto secular)
• Bahrain (Freedom of religion is protected by the law-unless you are a Shiite)
• Brunei
• Comoros
• Egypt
• Aceh Province, Indonesia (Secularism constitution-guaranteed, only applies to Aceh Province)
• Jordan (De-facto secular)
• Kuwait
• Libya
• Malaysia
• Maldives
• Mauritania
• Morocco
• Pakistan
• Qatar
• Saudi Arabia (Islamic kingdom, state-sanctioned)
• Somalia
• Tunisia (De-facto secular)
• United Arab Emirates
• Yemen

Shi'a Islam

• Iran (Theocratic state)
• Iraq (Constitution amended, Islam inscribed as state religion c. 2003)

Ibadi

• Oman (Freedom of religion is protected by the law)

Buddhist countries

Governments which recognize Buddhism, either a specific form of, or the whole, as their official religion:

• Bhutan (Drukpa Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism)
• Cambodia (Theravada Buddhism)
• Kalmykia, a republic within the Russian Federation (Tibetan Buddhism – sole Buddhist entity in Europe)
• Sri Lanka (Theravada Buddhism) – The constitution accords Buddhism the "foremost place," but Buddhism is not recognized as the state religion.
• Thailand (Theravada Buddhism)- Thai constitution (2007) recognized Buddhism as "the religion of Thai tradition with the most adherents" However, it is not formally named as state religion.

Additional notes

• Israel is defined in several of its laws as a "Jewish and democratic state" (medina yehudit ve-demokratit). However, the term "Jewish" is a polyseme that can relate equally to the Jewish people or religion (see: Who is a Jew?). The debate about the meaning of the term Jewish and its legal and social applications is one of the most profound issues with which Israeli society deals.

At present, there is no specific law or official statement establishing the Jewish religion as the state's religion. However, the State of Israel supports religious institutions, particularly Orthodox Jewish ones, and recognizes the "religious communities" as carried over from those recognized under the British Mandate. These are: Jewish and Christian (Eastern Orthodox, Latin [Catholic], Gregorian-Armenian, Armenian-Catholic, Syrian [Catholic], Chaldean [Uniate], Greek Catholic Melkite, Maronite, and Syrian Orthodox). The fact that the Muslim population was not defined as a religious community is a vestige of the Ottoman period during which Islam was the dominant religion and does not affect the rights of the Muslim community to practice their faith. At the end of the period covered by this report, several of these denominations were pending official government recognition; however, the Government has allowed adherents of not officially recognized groups freedom to practice. In 1961, legislation gave Muslim Shari'a courts exclusive jurisdiction in matters of personal status. Three additional religious communities have subsequently been recognized by Israeli law – the Druze (prior under Islamic jurisdiction), the Evangelical Episcopal Church, and the Bahá'í. These groups have their own religious courts as official state courts for personal status matters (see millet system).

The structure and goals of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel are governed by Israeli law, but the law does not say explicitly that it is a state Rabbinate. However, outspoken Israeli secularists such as Shulamit Aloni and Uri Avnery have long maintained that it is that in practice. Non-recognition of other streams of Judaism such as Reform Judaism and Conservative Judaism is the cause of some controversy; rabbis belonging to these currents are not recognized as such by state institutions and marriages performed by them are not recogngized as valid. As of 2010, there is no civil marriage in Israel, although there is recognition of marriages performed abroad.

• Nepal was once the world's only Hindu state, but has ceased to be so following a declaration by the Parliament in 2006.

• The Philippines is constituted as a de facto Roman Catholic-state with religious freedom guarantees. In one region of the country is the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which composed of all the country's predominantly Muslim provinces, the Regional Assembly is empowered to legislate on matters covered by the Shari'ah. Such legislation, however, applies only to Muslims.

• Many countries indirectly fund the activities of different religious denominations by granting tax-exempt status to churches and religious institutions which qualify as charitable organizations. However, these religions are not established as state religions.

Ancient state religions

Egypt and Sumer

See also: History of religion

The concept of state religions was known as long ago as the empires of Egypt and Sumer, when every city state or people had its own god or gods. Many of the early Sumerian rulers were priests of their patron city god. Some of the earliest semi-mythological kings may have passed into the pantheon, like Dumuzid, and some later kings came to be viewed as divine soon after their reigns, like Sargon the Great of Akkad. One of the first rulers to be proclaimed a god during his actual reign was Gudea of Lagash, followed by some later kings of Ur, such as Shulgi. Often, the state religion was integral to the power base of the reigning government, such as in Egypt, where Pharaohs were often thought of as embodiments of the god Horus.

Sassanid Empire

Zoroastrianism was the state religion of the Sassanid dynasty which lasted until 651, when Persia was conquered by the forces of Islam. However, it persisted as the state religion of the independent state of Hyrcania until the 15th century.

The tiny kingdom of Adiabene in northern Mesopotamia converted to Judaism around 34 AD.

Greek city-states

Many of the Greek city-states also had a 'god' or 'goddess' associated with that city. This would not be the 'only god' of the city, but the one that received special honors. In ancient Greece the city of Athens had Athena, Sparta had Ares, Delphi had Apollo and Artemis, Olympia had Zeus, Corinth had Poseidon and Thebes had Demeter.

Roman religion and Christianity

In Rome, the office of Pontifex Maximus came to be reserved for the emperor, who was often declared a 'god' posthumously, or sometimes during his reign. Failure to worship the emperor as a god was at times punishable by death, as the Roman government sought to link emperor worship with loyalty to the Empire. Many Christians and Jews were subject to persecution, torture and death in the Roman Empire, because it was against their beliefs to worship the emperor.

In 311, Emperor Galerius, on his deathbed, declared a religious indulgence to Christians throughout the Roman Empire, focusing on the ending of anti-Christian persecution. Constantine I and Licinius, the two Augusti, by the Edict of Milan of 313, enacted a law allowing religious freedom to everyone within the Roman Empire. Furthermore, the Edict of Milan cited that Christians may openly practice their religion unmolested and unrestricted, and provided that properties taken from Christians be returned to them unconditionally. Although the Edict of Milan allowed religious freedom throughout the empire, it did not abolish nor disestablish the Roman state cult (Roman polytheistic paganism). The Edict of Milan was written in such a way as to implore the blessings of the deity.

Constantine called up the First Council of Nicaea in 325, although he was not a baptised Christian until years later. Despite enjoying considerable popular support, Christianity was still not the official state religion in Rome, although it was in some neighboring states such as Armenia and Aksum.

Roman Religion (Neoplatonic Hellenism) was restored for a time by Julian the Apostate from 361 to 363. Julian does not appear to have reinstated the persecutions of the earlier Roman emperors.

Catholic Christianity, as opposed to Arianism and other ideologies deemed heretical, was declared to be the state religion of the Roman Empire on February 27, 380 by the decree De Fide Catolica of Emperor Theodosius I.

Han Dynasty Confucianism

In China, the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) advocated Confucianism as the de facto state religion, establishing tests based on Confucian texts as an entrance requirement into government service—although, in fact, the "Confucianism" advocated by the Han emperors may be more properly termed a sort of Confucian Legalism or "State Confucianism". This sort of Confucianism continued to be regarded by the emperors, with a few notable exceptions, as a form of state religion from this time until the overthrow of the imperial system of government in 1911. Note however, there is a debate over whether Confucianism (including Neo-confucianism) is a religion or purely a philosophical system.

Modern era

Empire of Japan

From the Meiji era to the first part of the Showa era, Koshitsu Shinto was established in Japan as the national religion. According to this, the emperor of Japan was an arahitogami, an incarnate divinity and the offspring of goddess Amaterasu. As the emperor was, according to the constitution, "head of the empire" and "supreme commander of the Army and the Navy", every Japanese citizen had to obey his will and show absolute loyalty.

States/Countries without a state religion

These states do not profess a state religion, and are generally secular or laique. Countries which do not officially establish any religion include:

• Albania
• Armenia (Article 8.1 of the Armenian Constitution)
• Australia (Forbidden under the Constitution of Australia)
• Azerbaijan
• Brazil all states since 1988 – (Article 19 of the Brazilian Constitution)
• Bolivia
• Canada
• Chile
• Cuba
• People's Republic of China
• Republic of China (Taiwan)
• East Timor
• Ecuador
• Estonia
• France
• Germany
• Hungary
• India
• Ireland
• Italy
• Jamaica
• Japan (Shinto until end of WWII)
• Kosovo (Independence partially recognised)
• Laos
• Lebanon (although by custom the president is a Maronite Catholic, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim and the speaker of the parliament a Shi'a Muslim.)
• Mauritius
• Mexico (prohibited per Article 130 of the present Constitution of 1917)
• Montenegro
• Nepal (declared a secular state on May 18, 2006, by the newly resumed House of Representatives)
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Nigeria (federally secular, but allowing for the institutionalization of Islam and sharia in the predominantly-Muslim northern states)
• North Korea
• Philippines (forbidden explicitly under Article III Section 5 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution)
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Russia
• Serbia
• Slovenia
• Singapore
• South Africa
• South Korea
• Spain
• Sweden (Lutheran (Church of Sweden) until December 31, 1999.)
• Syria (though the constitution requires the president be Muslim and establishes Sharia as the official source of legislation)
• Turkey
• United Republic of Tanzania – The father of the Nation Mwalimu Julius K. Nyerere said the state does not have the religion but the people of the United Republic of Tanzania have, and each one is allowed to practice their religion freely as long as it does not cause harm to the other.
• United States (forbidden explicitly under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, and implicitly in Article VI of the same document.)
• Puerto Rico (forbidden explicitly under Article II Section III of the Constitution of Puerto Rico. Also forbidden explicitly under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, as well as implicitly in Article VI of the same document. Puerto Rico is a Commonwealth of the United States).
• Uruguay
• Venezuela
• Vietnam

Established churches and former state churches

Country	Church	Denomination	Disestablished
Anhalt	Evangelical State Church of Anhalt	united	1918
Armenia	Armenian Apostolic Church	Oriental Orthodox	1921
Austria	Roman Catholic Church	Catholic	1918
Baden	Roman Catholic Church and the United Evangelical Protestant State Church of Baden	Catholic and united	1918
Bavaria	Roman Catholic Church	Catholic	1918
Bolivia	Roman Catholic Church	Catholic	2009
Brazil	Roman Catholic Church	Catholic	1890
Duchy of Brunswick	Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Brunswick	Lutheran	1918
Bulgaria	Bulgarian Orthodox Church	Eastern Orthodox	1946
Chile	Roman Catholic Church	Catholic	1925
Cuba	Roman Catholic Church	Catholic	1902
Cyprus	Cypriot Orthodox Church	Eastern Orthodox	1977 with the death of the Ethnarch Makarios III
Czechoslovakia	Roman Catholic Church	Catholic	1920
Denmark	Church of Denmark	Lutheran	no. State religion disestablished.
England	Church of England	Anglican	no
Ethiopia	Ethiopian Orthodox Church	Oriental Orthodox	1974
Finland	Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland	1870/1919
France	Roman Catholic Church	Catholic	1905
Georgia	Georgian Orthodox Church	Eastern Orthodox	1921
Greece	Greek Orthodox Church	Eastern Orthodox	no
Guatemala	Roman Catholic Church	Catholic	1871
Haiti	Roman Catholic Church	Catholic	1987
Hesse	Evangelical Church in Hesse	united	1918
Hungary	Roman Catholic Church	Catholic	1946
Iceland	Lutheran Evangelical Church	Lutheran	no
Ireland	Church of Ireland	Anglican	1871
Italy	Roman Catholic Church	Catholic	1984
Lebanon	Maronite Catholic Church/Islam	Catholic/Islam	no
Liechtenstein	Roman Catholic Church	Catholic	no
Lippe	Church of Lippe	Reformed	1918
Lithuania	Roman Catholic Church	Catholic	1940
Lübeck	Evangelical Lutheran Church in the State of Lübeck	Lutheran	1918
Luxembourg	Roman Catholic Church	Catholic	?
Republic of Macedonia	Macedonian Orthodox Church	Eastern Orthodox	no
Malta	Roman Catholic Church	Catholic	no
Mecklenburg-Schwerin	Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mecklenburg-Schwerin	Lutheran	1918
Mecklenburg-Strelitz	Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mecklenburg-Schwerin	Lutheran	1918
Mexico	Roman Catholic Church	Catholic	1874
Monaco	Roman Catholic Church	Catholic	no
Mongolia	Tibetan Buddhism	n/a	1926
Netherlands	Dutch Reformed Church	Reformed	1795
Norway	Church of Norway	Lutheran	no, (2011–2012?), ref.: http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/kkd/dok/regpubl/stmeld/2007-2008/stmeld-nr-17-2007-2008-.html?id=507168. In this case, only state religion but not state church will be disestablished.
Oldenburg	Evangelical Lutheran Church of Oldenburg	Lutheran	1918
Panama	Roman Catholic Church	Catholic	1904
Paraguay	Roman Catholic Church	Catholic	1992
Philippines	Roman Catholic Church	Catholic	1898
Poland	Roman Catholic Church	Catholic	1947
Portugal	Roman Catholic Church	Catholic	1910
Prussia pre 1866 provinces	Evangelical State Church of Prussia's older Provinces with nine ecclesiastical provinces	united	1918
Prussia Province of Hanover	Evangelical Reformed State Church of the Province of Hanover	Reformed	1918
Prussia Province of Hanover	Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Hanover	Lutheran	1918
Prussia Province of Hesse-Nassau (partially)	Evangelical State Church of Frankfurt upon Main	united	1918
Prussia Province of Hesse-Nassau (partially)	Evangelical Church of Electoral Hesse	united	1918
Prussia Province of Hesse-Nassau (partially)	Evangelical State Church in Nassau	united	1918
Prussia Prov. of Schleswig-Holstein	Evangelical Lutheran Church of Schleswig-Holstein	Lutheran	1918
Quebec	Roman Catholic Church	Catholic	1960
Romania	Romanian Orthodox Church	Eastern Orthodox	1947
Russia	Russian Orthodox Church	Eastern Orthodox	1917
Thuringia	church bodies in principalities which merged in Thuringia in 1920	Lutheran	1918
Saxony	Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Saxony	Lutheran	1918
Schaumburg-Lippe	Evangelical State Church of Schaumburg-Lippe	Lutheran	1918
Scotland	Church of Scotland	Presbyterian	State control disclaimed since 1638. Formally recognised as not an established church in 1921
Serbia	Serbian Orthodox Church	Eastern	?
Spain	Roman Catholic Church	Catholic	1978
Sweden	Church of Sweden	Lutheran	2000
Switzerland	none since the adoption of the Federal Constitution (1848)	n/a	n/a
Turkey	Islam	Islam	1928
Uruguay	Roman Catholic Church	Catholic	1919
Waldeck	Evangelical State Church of Waldeck and Pyrmont	united	1918
Wales	Church in Wales	Anglican	1920
Württemberg	Evangelical State Church in Württemberg	Lutheran	1918

Former state churches in British North America

Protestant colonies

• The colonies of Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, New Haven, and New Hampshire were founded by Puritan Calvinist Protestants.
• The colonies of New York, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia were officially Church of England.

Catholic colonies

• When New France was transferred to Great Britain in 1763, the Roman Catholic Church remained under toleration, but Huguenots were allowed entrance where they had formerly been banned from settlement by Parisian authorities.
• The Colony of Maryland was founded by a charter granted in 1632 to George Calvert, secretary of state to Charles I, and his son Cecil, both recent converts to Roman Catholicism. Under their leadership many English Catholic gentry families settled in Maryland. However, the colonial government was officially neutral in religious affairs, granting toleration to all Christian groups and enjoining them to avoid actions which antagonized the others. On several occasions low-church dissenters led insurrections which temporarily overthrew the Calvert rule. In 1689, when William and Mary came to the English throne, they acceded to demands to revoke the original royal charter. In 1701 the Church of England was proclaimed, and in the course of the eighteenth century Maryland Catholics were first barred from public office, then disenfranchised, although not all of the laws passed against them (notably laws restricting property rights and imposing penalties for sending children to be educated in foreign Catholic institutions) were enforced, and some Catholics even continued to hold public office.
• Spanish Florida was ceded to Great Britain in 1763, the British divided Florida into two colonies. Both East and West Florida continued a policy of toleration for the Catholic Residents.

Colonies with no established church

• The Province of Pennsylvania was founded by Quakers, but the colony never had an established church.
• The Province of New Jersey, without official religion, had a significant Quaker lobby, but Calvinists of all stripes also had a presence.
• Delaware Colony had no established church, but was contested between Catholics and Quakers.
• The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, founded by religious dissenters forced to flee the Massachusetts Bay colony, is widely regarded as the first polity to grant religious freedom to all its citizens, although Catholics were barred intermittently. Baptists, Seekers/Quakers and Jews made this colony their home.

Tabular summary

Colony	Denomination	Disestablished1
Connecticut	Congregational	1818
Georgia	Church of England/Episcopal Church	17892
Maryland	Church of England/Episcopal Church	1776
Massachusetts	Congregational	18333
New Brunswick	Church of England
New Hampshire	Congregational	17904
Newfoundland	Church of England
North Carolina	Church of England/Episcopal Church	17765
Nova Scotia	Church of England	1850
Prince Edward Island	Church of England
South Carolina	Church of England/Episcopal Church	1790
Canada West	Church of England	1854
West Florida	Church of England6/Episcopal Church	17837
East Florida	Church of England6/Episcopal Church	17837
Virginia	Church of England/Episcopal Church	17868
West Indies	Church of England	1868 (Barbados, not until 1969)

^Note 1: In several colonies, the establishment ceased to exist in practice at the Revolution, about 1776; this is the date of permanent legal abolition.

^Note 2: in 1789 the Georgia Constitution was amended as follows: "Article IV. Section 10. No person within this state shall, upon any pretense, be deprived of the inestimable privilege of worshipping God in any manner agreeable to his own conscience, nor be compelled to attend any place of worship contrary to his own faith and judgment; nor shall he ever be obliged to pay tithes, taxes, or any other rate, for the building or repairing any place of worship, or for the maintenance of any minister or ministry, contrary to what he believes to be right, or hath voluntarily engaged. To do. No one religious society shall ever be established in this state, in preference to another; nor shall any person be denied the enjoyment of any civil right merely on account of his religious principles."

^Note 3: From 1780 Massachusetts had a system which required every man to belong to a church, and permitted each church to tax its members, but forbade any law requiring that it be of any particular denomination. This was objected to, as in practice establishing the Congregational Church, the majority denomination, and was abolished in 1833.

^Note 4: Until 1877 the New Hampshire Constitution required members of the State legislature to be of the Protestant religion.

^Note 5: The North Carolina Constitution of 1776 disestablished the Anglican church, but until 1835 the NC Constitution allowed only Protestants to hold public office. From 1835–1876 it allowed only Christians (including Catholics) to hold public office. Article VI, Section 8 of the current NC Constitution forbids only atheists from holding public office. Such clauses were held by the United States Supreme Court to be unenforceable in the 1961 case of Torcaso v. Watkins, when the court ruled unanimously that such clauses constituted a religious test incompatible with First and Fourteenth Amendment protections.

^Note 6: Religious tolerance for Catholics with an established Church of England was policy in the former Spanish Colonies of East and West Florida while under British rule.

^Note 7: In 1783 Peace of Paris, which ended the American Revolutionary War, the British ceded both East and West Florida back to Spain (see Spanish Florida).

^Note 8: Tithes for the support of the Anglican Church in Virginia were suspended in 1776, and never restored. 1786 is the date of the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, which prohibited any coercion to support any religious body.

Non-Anglo-American colonies

In both cases, these areas were disestablished and dissolved, yet their presences were tolerated by the Anglo-American government, as Foreign Protestants, whose communities were expected to observe their own ways without causing controversy or conflict for the prevalent colonists. After the Revolution, their ethno-religious backgrounds were chiefly sought as the most compatible non-British Isles immigrants.

• New Netherland was founded by Dutch Reformed Calvinists.
• New Sweden was founded by Church of Sweden Lutherans.

State of Deseret

The State of Deseret was a provisional state of the United States, proposed in 1849 by Mormon settlers in Salt Lake City. The provisional state existed for slightly over two years, but attempts to gain recognition by the United States government floundered for various reasons. The Utah Territory which was then founded was under Mormon control, and repeated attempts to gain statehood met resistance, in part due to concerns over the principle of separation of church and state conflicting with the practice of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of placing their highest value on "following counsel" in virtually all matters relating to their church-centered lives. The state of Utah was eventually admitted to the union on January 4, 1896, after the various issues had been resolved.

See also

• List of state-established religions
• Civil religion
• Political religion
• Separation of church and state
• Freedom of religion
• Status of religious freedom by country
• Religious toleration
• Secular state
• Secular religion

External links

• McConnell, Michael W. (2003), "Establishment and Disestablishment at the Founding, Part I: Establishment of Religion", William and Mary Law Review, provided by Questia.com, 44 (5): 2105, retrieved 2006-11-23. {{citation}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |quotes= and |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)