Christianity in Uzbekistan
Encyclopedia
Prior to the advent of Islam, present-day Uzbekistan had sizable communities of eastern Christians, including Nestorians and Jacobites. Initially tolerated by the Muslim rulers, they came under increasing persecution and pressure to convert. Around 1400, Tamerlane engaged in a fierce campaign to externimate Chrisitanity within his empire. The last Christian churches in Samarkand and Central Asia were destroyed by his grandson, Ulugh Beg
.
Christianity returned to the region after the Russian conquest in 1867, when Russian Orthodox churches were built in large cities, to serve Russian and European settlers and officers.
According to a 2009 US State Department release, about 5 % of the population of Uzbekistan
are orthodox, most of whom are ethnic Russians
. There are about 4000 Roman Catholics in Uzbekistan. New parishes cannot register. In 2006 a law, by which printing religious books can be punished with three years, came. The government indulges in massive persecution of Christians.
There is strong pressure on Christians from a Muslim background in remote areas.
Uzbekistan was designated to its list of countries of particular concern of the U. S. State Department.
. The president of the synod is Gilda Razpopova.
Ulugh Beg
Ulugh Bek was a Timurid ruler as well as an astronomer, mathematician and sultan. His commonly-known name is not truly a personal name, but rather a moniker, which can be loosely translated as "Great Ruler" or "Patriarch Ruler" and was the Turkic equivalent of Timur's Perso-Arabic title Amīr-e...
.
Christianity returned to the region after the Russian conquest in 1867, when Russian Orthodox churches were built in large cities, to serve Russian and European settlers and officers.
According to a 2009 US State Department release, about 5 % of the population of Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
are orthodox, most of whom are ethnic Russians
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
. There are about 4000 Roman Catholics in Uzbekistan. New parishes cannot register. In 2006 a law, by which printing religious books can be punished with three years, came. The government indulges in massive persecution of Christians.
There is strong pressure on Christians from a Muslim background in remote areas.
Uzbekistan was designated to its list of countries of particular concern of the U. S. State Department.
Protestants
Protestants are less than one percent of the population. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Uzbekistan has seven parishes. The seat of the bishop is TashkentTashkent
Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was about 2.2 million. Unofficial sources estimate the actual population may be as much as 4.45 million.-Early Islamic History:...
. The president of the synod is Gilda Razpopova.
Protestant Denominations
- Baptist Union in Uzbekistan
- German Evangelical Lutheran Church
- Korean Baptist Churches
- Korean Methodist Church
- Korean Presbyterian church
See also
- Roman Catholicism in UzbekistanRoman Catholicism in UzbekistanThe Roman Catholic Church in Uzbekistan is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and curia in Rome. There are approximately 5000 Catholics in the country of 27 million. They are organized under a single Apostolic Administration...
- Russian Orthodox Church in Uzbekistan