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Religious Beliefs and Spirituality in Slovenia

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Christianity first reached Slovenia in the 8th century, when the Slavic tribes who inhabited the region embraced it.  The Roman Catholic Church stayed high and mighty for a very long time until the year 1945, when this period of influence was damaged by the departure of conservative Catholics.  Moreover, the rise of industrialization, capitalism, and consumerism also shook the religious practices and in conjunction with these events, Communism came into the picture.

Majority of the Republic of Slovenia’s population still belong to the Roman Catholic Church.  At the onset of the 21st century, it was established that the numbers fell relative to the 1990s – from four-fifths of Slovenia’s population down to three-fifths.  More and more religious communities and spiritual factions are being accepted in Slovenia.  There are currently forty other religious groups in the country aside from the Roman Catholics; that is about less than a percent of the population.

Muslim and Orthodox Christian groups came to settle in Slovenia in the 1970.  A few years later, these groups extended their influence, changing the religious make up of Slovenia.  A lot of the Orthodox churches are found in Ljubljana, the capital, and the southeast part of Slovenia.  On the other hand, after much persuasion and still with resistance, the government of Slovenia conceded to the construction of the first Mosque in the country.  Presently, the Muslim community composes 2.4% of the population, while 2.3% belong to the Orthodox Church.

Slovenes are entitled to embrace what they feel fit to be their religious belief.  Their Constitution does not oblige anyone to declare their religion or the absence of it, for that matter.  Roughly 23% of the country’s population refused to specify their religion; 3.5% are not affiliated.