Religion In Sweden
Sweden was Christianized from Norse paganism in the 11th century. Since the 16th century Sweden has been predominantly Lutheran. From the Protestant Reformation in the 1530s until 2000, the Lutheran Church of Sweden (Swedish: Svenska kyrkan) was the state church. As of 2010, about 70% of Swedish citizens are members of the Church of Sweden, compared to over 95% in 1970, and 83% in 2000.
Religiosity in Sweden plays a limited role compared to the European average. In a 2009 Gallup poll, 17% answered yes to the question "Is religion an important part of your daily life?". Less than 4% of the Church of Sweden membership attends public worship during an average week; about 2% are regular attendees.
The history of the Jews in Sweden can be traced back to the 17th century. Due to immigration in the later 20th century, there is today a sizeable minority of Muslims (5% of population) and Roman Catholics (2%).
Read more about Religion In Sweden: Religion in Sweden Today, Judaism, Islam, Jehovah's Witnesses
Famous quotes containing the words religion in and/or religion:
“If there were only one religion in England there would be danger of despotism, if there were two, they would cut each other’s throats, but there are thirty, and they live in peace and happiness.”
—Voltaire [François Marie Arouet] (1694–1778)
“If ... we admit a divinity, why not divine worship? and if worship, why not religion to teach this worship? and if a religion, why not the Christian, if a better cannot be assigned, and it be already established by the laws of our country, and handed down to us from our forefathers?”
—George Berkeley (1685–1753)