As in most European countries, the most influential and widespread religion in Hungary is Christianity. According to 2011 data, about 3.9 million people identify themselves as Catholics, which is more than a third of the country's total population. However, Hungary is a religiously rich state, and religious diversity does not end with Catholicism alone.
Country Brief
Hungary as a state traces its history back to 895 - the year the Principality of Hungary was founded. 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 km 2 , on which 9.8 million people live (92% of them are Hungarians). About 1.7 million live in the capital of the state - Budapest.
Hungary since 1999 is a member of NATO, in 2004 it became part of the European Union. The country's economy is developing steadily, as evidenced not only by the relatively high GDP - $ 152 billion (15,500 per capita), but also by its growth rate of 4% in 2017. The human development index is also high - 0.83 (37th place in the world).
Religion Summary
More than 2/3 of the inhabitants of Hungary believe in God - this is more than 5 million people. According to research in 2011, 2.7 million people refused to answer the question of their affiliation with any religion. About 1.8 million people do not identify with any of the existing religions. Most of the faithful, more than a third of all 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 versus 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, however, 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, parishioners of any church can, at their request, place at the disposal of a religious organization 1% of income tax.
Recently, in Hungary there has been a tendency 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, the number of people who did not want to answer the question of correspondents about religious affiliation doubled - up to 2.7 million people.
Catholicism in Hungary
Christianity in the form of Catholicism began to spread among the Hungarians back in the 950s, which was connected with the activities of missionaries from Germany. For the first time, Prince Stephen I, in the baptism of Istvan I Holy (1001-1038), took up the issue of religion. After accepting the title of King of Hungary, he began the imposition of a new faith. Under him, 2 archbishopricians and 8 bishoprics were formed in the state, the first monasteries were built, and Christianity was actively preached by missionaries. After his death, the remaining pagans declared a rebellion, which was quickly crushed.
Until the reformation, most of the Hungarians remained Catholics. However, by the end of the sixteenth century, Protestant sentiments were strongly entrenched in Hungary. At the moment, there are 3 times less Protestants in the country than Catholics - Catholicism remains the dominant religion in Hungary. As of 2011, the church, consisting 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 temples of Hungary
In addition to 16 “small basilicas” - churches that were given special status by the pope because of their antiquity and historical importance - in Hungary there are two main basilicas: St. Adalbert and St. Istvan. The first is in the city of Esztergom - the spiritual center of the country.
The Basilica of St. Adalbert (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 is built is neoclassicism. The Esztergom Basilica dates back to the beginning of the 11th century, from the reign of Istvan I. Now it is the department of the Hungarian primacy.
In Budapest, the capital of Hungary, 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 small basilica. In terms of scale, the Budapest Basilica is smaller than the Esztergom Basilica. However, a height of 96 meters allows it to be ranked as one of the tallest buildings in Hungary. The architectural style of the Basilica of St. Stephen is neoclassicism.
Protestantism in Hungary
The ideas and moods of the beginning of the 16th century, born of the activities of Martin Luther and giving rise to the period of the Reformation, did not bypass Hungary. In the 1520s, Protestantism in the person 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 a Calvinist sense.
The situation did not change during the Turkish conquests of the XVI-XVII centuries. The Ottomans were condescending to the religion of the Hungarian people. However, in the early 1720s, Catholicism greatly constrained the position of Protestantism: the transition to it is considered a crime, the activity of Protestants is very 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 parishioners 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 identify themselves with Orthodoxy. More than half of them are Serbs, whose ancestors moved to Hungary in 1690. The rest are Ukrainians, Romanians, and Russians. Orthodox believers in Hungary are parishioners 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 baroque style. Since 1950, the cathedral is under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church. At the moment, the Assumption Cathedral is active: daily services are held there. They are all held in Hungarian. In 2016, the Hungarian authorities allocated funds in the amount of 100 million Hungarian forints to restore the second tower of the cathedral destroyed during World War II.
Judaism and Jewish Temples
Most Jews live in the capital of the country - Budapest, in the Pest quarter - the flat part of the city. In total, there are about 48 thousand ethnic Jews in Hungary, 10 thousand of them practice Judaism. The number of Jewish population in the country is not so great 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 the premises of 1200 m 2 . It was built over 5 years, from 1854 to 1859. Decorated in neo-Moorish style by architect Ludwig Forster.
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 regard to Protestantism, Calvinism (1.2 million people) is more common in Hungary than Lutheranism (215 thousand people). The state financially supports Christianity, Protestantism, Judaism and the Church of Faith.
In Hungary, there are many temples and cathedrals of various faiths. Especially among them are Catholic churches - basilicas. In Esztergom and Budapest there are two main cathedrals: the basilica of St. Adalbert and St. Stephen. In addition to the basilica, in Hungary there are other churches: Orthodox, Protestant, Jewish. Of the Orthodox cathedrals, the Assumption Cathedral is most famous, of the Jewish ones, the Great Synagogue located in Budapest.