Roman Catholicism in Croatia in the context of Croatian Bishops' Conference


Roman Catholicism in Croatia in the context of Croatian Bishops' Conference

⭐ Core Definition: Roman Catholicism in Croatia

The Catholic Church in Croatia (Croatian: Katolička Crkva u Hrvatskoj) is part of the worldwide Catholic Church that is under the spiritual leadership of the Pope. The Latin Church in Croatia is administered by the Croatian Bishops' Conference centered in Zagreb, and it comprises five archdioceses, 13 dioceses and one military ordinariate. Dražen Kutleša is the Archbishop of Zagreb.

A 2011 census estimated that there were 3.7 million baptized Latin Catholics and about 20,000 baptized Eastern Catholics of the Greek Catholic Church of Croatia and Serbia in Croatia, comprising 86.3% of the population. As of 2017, weekly church attendance was relatively high compared to other Catholic nations in Europe, at around 27%. A 2021 Croatian census showed that 83% of the population is Catholic and 3.3% is Serbian Orthodox.

↓ Menu
HINT:

In this Dossier

Roman Catholicism in Croatia in the context of Islam in Croatia

Islam is the third-largest religion or subdivision and second-largest religion in Croatia after Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, which are Christian religions. The religion is followed by 1.3% of the country's population according to the 2021 census. Islam was first introduced to Croatia by the Ottoman Empire during the Croatian–Ottoman Wars that lasted from the 15th to 16th century. During this period some parts of the Croatian Kingdom were occupied which resulted in some Croats converting to Islam, some after being taken prisoners of war, some through the devşirme system. Nonetheless, Croats strongly fought against the Turks during these few centuries which resulted in the fact that the westernmost border of the Ottoman Empire in Europe became entrenched on the Croatian soil. In 1519, Croatia was called the Antemurale Christianitatis by Pope Leo X.

The Islamic Community of Croatia (Mešihat Islamske Zajednice u Hrvatskoj) is the main organization of Muslims in Croatia that is officially recognized by the state. The President of the Islamic Community is Aziz Effendi Hasanović. As of 2011, 62,977 Muslims live in Croatia. Most of them declare themselves as Bosniaks (31,479) while others declare themselves as: Croats (9,647), Albanians (9,594), Roma (5,039), Turks (343), Macedonians (217), Montenegrins (159), Ahmadies (16) and other (2,420).

View the full Wikipedia page for Islam in Croatia
↑ Return to Menu