Religion in Vojvodina
Encyclopedia
Vojvodina
Vojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...
is Orthodox Christianity
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
(notably the Serbian Orthodox Church
Serbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church is one of the autocephalous Orthodox Christian churches, ranking sixth in order of seniority after Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Russia...
), while other important religions of the region are Catholic Christianity, Protestant Christianity, Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, and Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
.
2002 census data
According to the 2002 census the main religious groups in VojvodinaVojvodina
Vojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...
were:
- Orthodox Christians = 1,401,475 (68.97%)
- Catholic Christians = 388,313 (19.11%)
- Protestant Christians = 72,159 (3.55%)
- Muslims = 8,073
- JewsJewsThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
= 329 - Adherents of Oriental Cults = 166
Orthodox Christianity
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
. Most of the adherents belong to the Serbian Orthodox Church
Serbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church is one of the autocephalous Orthodox Christian churches, ranking sixth in order of seniority after Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Russia...
, and smaller number of them to the Romanian Orthodox Church
Romanian Orthodox Church
The Romanian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. It is in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox churches, and is ranked seventh in order of precedence. The Primate of the church has the title of Patriarch...
. The ethnic groups whose members are mostly adherents of Orthodox Christianity are: Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
, Montenegrins, Romanians
Romanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....
, Yugoslavs
Yugoslavs
Yugoslavs is a national designation used by a minority of South Slavs across the countries of the former Yugoslavia and in the diaspora...
, Roma, Macedonians
Macedonians (ethnic group)
The Macedonians also referred to as Macedonian Slavs: "... the term Slavomacedonian was introduced and was accepted by the community itself, which at the time had a much more widespread non-Greek Macedonian ethnic consciousness...
, Ukrainians
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
, 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....
, Greeks
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
, Vlachs, etc.
The Fruška Gora
Fruška Gora
Fruška Gora is a mountain in north Syrmia. Most part of the territory is located within Vojvodina, Serbia, but a smaller part on its western side overlaps the territory of Croatia...
, a mountain in Vojvodina, is one of the three Holy Mountains of the Orthodox Christianity (The other two being Athos
Mount Athos
Mount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
and Sinai
Mount Sinai
Mount Sinai , also known as Mount Horeb, Mount Musa, Gabal Musa , Jabal Musa meaning "Moses' Mountain", is a mountain near Saint Catherine in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. A mountain called Mount Sinai is mentioned many times in the Book of Exodus in the Torah and the Bible as well as the Quran...
). There are as many as sixteen Orthodox monasteries located on the Fruška Gora. During the Ottoman rule in the 16th and 17th centuries, the number of Orthodox monasteries on the Fruška Gora was as high as 35. There are also two Orthodox monasteries in the part of Syrmia
Syrmia
Syrmia is a fertile region of the Pannonian Plain in Europe, between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is divided between Serbia in the east and Croatia in the west....
that belong to Belgrade (but which historically belonged to Vojvodina), three Orthodox monasteries in the Bačka
Backa
Bačka is a geographical area within the Pannonian plain bordered by the river Danube to the west and south, and by the river Tisza to the east of which confluence is located near Titel...
, and seven in the Banat
Banat
The Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania , the western part in northeastern Serbia , and a small...
.
The roots of Christianity in this region date back to the 3rd century when the Episcopate of Syrmia was established. This Episcopate existed until 1183, when the region of Syrmia was included in the Catholic Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
. The 11th century Bulgaro-Slavic rulers of the territory of the present-day Vojvodina region, Ahtum
Ahtum
Ahtum, also Achtum or Ajtony , was a local ruler in the region of Banat in the first decades of the 11th century. King Saint Stephen I of Hungary sent Csanád - one of Ahtum’s former retainers - to fight against him...
and Sermon
Sermon (ruler)
Sermon was an 11th century voivode of Syrmia and a local governor in the First Bulgarian Empire, vassal of Bulgarian emperor Samuil...
, were Orthodox Christians.
The Orthodox population which lived in the region was an impediment to the establishment of Catholic Church organization in the Medieval Kingdom of Hungary. The Catholic inquisitor
Inquisition
The Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , was the "fight against heretics" by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church. It started in the 12th century, with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heresy...
, Jacob de Marki, tried in 1483 to forcibly convert Orthodox Christians in the region to Catholicism.
With the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
conquest of the region in the 16th century, the Catholic population mostly fled, and during Ottoman rule, the population of the region was mostly composed of Orthodox Christians, with some Muslims living in the cities.
At the end of the 17th century, the Muslim Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
was replaced with the Catholic Habsburg Monarchy
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
, and during the Habsburg rule many Catholic settlers came to the region. Catholics then became the majority in the northern parts of the region, while Orthodox Christians remained the majority in the southern parts.
Catholic Christianity
Catholic Christians constitute 19.11% of the population of Vojvodina. The ethnic groups whose members are mostly adherents of Catholic Christianity are: Hungarians, CroatsCroats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
, Bunjevci
Bunjevci
Bunjevci are a South Slavic community and ethnic group living mostly in the Bačka region of Serbia and southern Hungary...
, Germans
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
, Slovenes, Czechs, Šokci, Poles
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
, Banat Bulgarians
Banat Bulgarians
The Banat Bulgarians are a distinct Bulgarian minority group which settled in the 18th century in the region of the Banat, which was then ruled by the Habsburgs and after World War I was divided between Romania, Serbia, and Hungary...
, etc. A smaller percentage of Roma, Yugoslavs
Yugoslavs
Yugoslavs is a national designation used by a minority of South Slavs across the countries of the former Yugoslavia and in the diaspora...
, and Slovaks
Slovaks
The Slovaks, Slovak people, or Slovakians are a West Slavic people that primarily inhabit Slovakia and speak the Slovak language, which is closely related to the Czech language.Most Slovaks today live within the borders of the independent Slovakia...
are also adherents of Catholic Christianity. The ethnic Rusyns
Pannonian Rusyns
Rusyns in Pannonia, or simply Rusyns or Ruthenians , are a Slavic minority in Serbia and Croatia...
and a smaller part of the ethnic Ukrainians
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
are adherents of the Eastern Catholic
Eastern Rite Catholic Churches
The Eastern Catholic Churches are autonomous, self-governing particular churches in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, the Pope. Together with the Latin Church, they compose the worldwide Catholic Church...
(Uniate) Church.
Catholic Christians are mostly concentrated in the northern part of the region, notably in the municipalities with a Hungarian ethnic majority and in the multiethnic municipalities of Subotica
Subotica
Subotica is a city and municipality in northern Serbia, in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina...
and Bečej
Becej
Bečej is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka District in Vojvodina, Serbia. The town has a population of 25,703, while Bečej municipality has 40,877 inhabitants. It is multiethnic town, with Hungarians and Serbs as largest ethnic groups...
. The population of Subotica, the second largest city in Vojvodina, is 63.02% Catholic.
The Catholic population which lived in the region during the time of the Medieval Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
mostly fled from the region following the Ottoman conquest in the 16th century, and was replaced by Orthodox and Muslim inhabitants. A new Catholic population started to settle in the region with the establishment of Habsburg rule at the end of the 17th century. The 18th century colonizations were base for the current religious composition of Vojvodina, where there is a Catholic majority in several of the northern municipalities.
Protestant Christianity
Protestant Christians makeup 3.55% of the population of Vojvodina. Most of the ethnic SlovaksSlovaks
The Slovaks, Slovak people, or Slovakians are a West Slavic people that primarily inhabit Slovakia and speak the Slovak language, which is closely related to the Czech language.Most Slovaks today live within the borders of the independent Slovakia...
are adherents of Protestant Christianity. Some members of other ethnic groups (especially Hungarians and Germans
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
in proportional terms and Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
in absolute terms) are also adherents of various forms of Protestant Christianity.
The largest concentration of Protestant Christians in Vojvodina is in the municipalities of Bački Petrovac
Backi Petrovac
Bački Petrovac is a town and municipality in the South Bačka District of Vojvodina, Serbia...
and Kovačica
Kovacica
Kovačica is a town and municipality located in the South Banat District of Vojvodina, Serbia. According to 2002 census, the town has a population of 6,764, while Kovačica municipality has 27,890 inhabitants...
, where the absolute or relative majority of the population are ethnic Slovaks
Slovaks
The Slovaks, Slovak people, or Slovakians are a West Slavic people that primarily inhabit Slovakia and speak the Slovak language, which is closely related to the Czech language.Most Slovaks today live within the borders of the independent Slovakia...
, most of them adherents of Protestant Christianity.
Islam
The ethnic groups whose members are mostly adherents of IslamIslam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
are: Muslims by nationality
Muslims by nationality
Muslims by nationality was a term used in Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia as an official designation of nationality of Slavic Muslims. They were one of the constitutive groups of Bosnia and Herzegovina...
, Albanians
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...
, Gorani
Gorani (Kosovo)
The Gorani or Goranci are a South Slavic ethnic group inhabiting the Gora region of the Balkans, located at the triangle between Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia. Another autonym of this people is "Našinci" with literally meaning "our people"...
, Bosniaks
Bosniaks
The Bosniaks or Bosniacs are a South Slavic ethnic group, living mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a smaller minority also present in other lands of the Balkan Peninsula especially in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia...
, Ashkali
Ashkali
In the Balkans, the Ashkali and Egyptians are Albanian-speaking ethnic minorities of Kosovo and Albania. Observers consider them Albanized Romanies, but they do not self-identify as such...
, and Egyptians. A smaller number of ethnic Roma are also adherents of Islam.
During Ottoman rule (16th-18th centuries), the Muslim population of the region was quite large and was mostly concentrated in the cities. Many cities of the region thus had a majority Muslim population, such as Sremska Mitrovica
Sremska Mitrovica
Sremska Mitrovica is a city and municipality located in the Vojvodina province of Serbia, on the left bank of the Sava river. As of 2002 the town had a total population of 39,041, while Sremska Mitrovica municipality had a population of 85,605...
, which according to the 1566/69 data had a population composed of 592 Muslim and 30 Christian houses. According to the 1573 data, this city had 17 mosques and no Christian church. Following the establishment of the Habsurg rule at the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th century, the Muslim population fled from the region. The current Muslim inhabitants of the region are mostly 20th century settlers from the Muslim areas of the former Yugoslavia.
Judaism
As elsewhere in the world, the Judaism is primarily associated with ethnic JewsJews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
. Today numbering only 329 people in Vojvodina, the Jewish population of the region numbered about 19,000 before the World War II. As elsewhere in Axis-occupied Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, those Jews who did not flee were mostly killed or deported in the war.
Other religions
The ethnic group that is primarily associated with Oriental religions are ethnic ChineseHan Chinese
Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
. A small number of the members of other ethnic groups are also adherents of various Oriental Cults, such as Hare Krishna
International Society for Krishna Consciousness
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness , known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava religious organization. It was founded in 1966 in New York City by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada...
and other.
See also
- VojvodinaVojvodinaVojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...
- Ethnic groups of VojvodinaEthnic groups of VojvodinaThere are many ethnic groups in Vojvodina.-Serbs:*Serbs – Serbs constitute an absolute majority of people in Vojvodina. According to the 2002 census, there were 1,321,807 Serbs in Vojvodina or 65.05% of the population...
- Religion in SerbiaReligion in SerbiaSerbia is a multi-religious country. The dominant religion is Orthodox Christianity , but there are also some adherents of Islam , and Catholic Christianity , as well as adherents of other...
- Religious architecture in Novi SadReligious architecture in Novi SadReligious architecture in Novi Sad is very diverse. Majority of the believers in Novi Sad are from Serbian Orthodox Church, while others are from Roman Catholic Church, many Protestant churches, and Jewish community...