Religion in North Macedonia

Church of St.Sophia in Ohrid.

In North Macedonia, the most common religion is Eastern Orthodox Christianity, practiced by most of the ethnic Macedonians. The vast majority of the Eastern Orthodox in the country belong to the Macedonian Orthodox Church, which declared autocephaly from the Serbian Orthodox Church in 1967.

Muslims are the second-largest religious group with almost one-third of the population adhering to Islam, mainly from the country's Albanian, Roma and Turkish minorities. There are also many other religious groups in North Macedonia, including the Catholicism, Protestantism, and Judaism.

In 2011, through a survey carried out by Ipsos MORI, the religious composition of North Macedonia was found to be 70.7% Christian, divided in 69.6% Eastern Orthodox and 0.4% Catholics and Protestants, and 28.6% Muslim, with unaffiliated Muslims making up the 25.6%.^[1]

Christianity[]

Eastern Orthodoxy[]

Church of St. Clement of Ohrid in Skopje.

Eastern Orthodoxy has had a long history in North Macedonia, and remains the majority religion. In 1019 the Archbishopric of Ohrid was established. In 1767 on order of the Sultan, the Archbishopric was abolished by the Turkish authorities and annexed to the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries there was an effort to reinstate the Archbishopric of Ohrid. The Macedonian Orthodox Church gained autonomy from the Serbian Orthodox Church in 1959 and declared the restoration of the Archbishopric of Ohrid. On July 19, 1967, the Macedonian Orthodox Church declared autocephaly from the Serbian Orthodox Church. Most Macedonians belong to the Orthodox faith. In 2001 the Church had about 1,350,000 adherents in North Macedonia.^[3] The Serbian Orthodox Church congregates primarily the ethnic Macedonian Serbs.^{[citation needed]}

Catholicism[]

Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Skopje.

In 2001 the Holy See established the Byzantine Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Macedonia. Currently, members of the Macedonian Catholic Church number about 11,266.^[4] It is a Byzantine Rite sui juris particular church in full communion with Pope and the rest of the Catholic Church, alongside the Eastern Catholic Churches and uses Macedonian in the liturgy.

Protestantism[]

There are a number of Protestants in North Macedonia. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, American missionaries converted villages in the Strumica-Petrich region to Methodism, a faith still practiced. There is also a small community of Macedonian Baptists which has existed since 1928.^[5]

Islam[]

Gazi Hajdar Kadi Mosque in Bitola.

Islam has had a significant influence in North Macedonia since the Ottoman invasions in the 14th and 15th centuries. Many Turks settled in the region of Macedonia and introduced aspects of Islamic culture. Most Albanians and some ethnic Macedonians converted to Islam. These Macedonian Muslims or Torbeši generally retained their Macedonian culture and customs while many were assimilated as Turks.^[6] By the 19th Century most of the cities were primarily populated by Muslims.^[6] The Šarena Džamija in Tetovo is a legacy of the country's Ottoman past. In 2002, Muslims form approximately 33.33% of the nation's total population. There has been no census since 2002 which means that most of the data collected from then on have been from non-governmental sources and so may have varying credibility.

Judaism[]

The Sephardic Jewish Synagogue in Bitola prior to World War II

Jews had been present when the region now called the Republic of North Macedonia was under Roman rule in the second century AD. The population was decimated by the Crusades, but rose again following the immigration of Sephardic Jews under the Ottoman Empire. In the Second World War, North Macedonia was occupied by Bulgaria, an Axis power, and the Jews were sent to concentration camps.^[7] As in the rest of the Balkans, the Holocaust and immigration to Israel means that North Macedonia now has a much smaller Jewish community, numbering roughly 200. It is mainly based in the capital, Skopje, and has no functioning synagogue.^[8]

Religious freedom[]

The laws of North Macedonia prohibit religious discrimination and provide for equal rights for all citizens regardless religious belief, and people generally have the freedom to practice their religion without disruption. Religious organizations have complained about unfair treatment by the government around questions of building permits and property restitutions. There have been incidences of vandalism and theft against religious buildings.^[9]

See also[]

• Demographics of North Macedonia
• Hinduism in North Macedonia
• Slavic Neopaganism

References[]

Sources[]