Sectarianism - Europe

Europe

See also: The Troubles, demographics and politics of Northern Ireland

Since the 12th century there has been sectarian conflict of varying intensity in Ireland. This religious sectarianism is connected to a degree with nationalism. This has been particularly intense in Northern Ireland since the early 17th century plantation of Ulster under James I. Sectarian tensions can be found in other regions of the British Isles to this day, including Scotland (with some fans of football clubs such as Celtic and Rangers indulging in sectarian chants) (see: Sectarianism in Glasgow), Liverpool, Birmingham and elsewhere.

Historically, some Catholic countries once persecuted Protestants as heretics. For example, the substantial Protestant population of France (the Huguenots) was expelled from the kingdom in the 1680s following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. In Spain, the Inquisition sought to root out not only Protestantism but also crypto-Jews and crypto-Muslims (moriscos); elsewhere the Papal Inquisition held similar goals.

In most places where Protestantism is the majority or "official" religion, there have been examples of Catholics being persecuted. In countries where the Reformation was successful, this often lay in the perception that Catholics retained allegiance to a 'foreign' power (the Papacy), causing them to be regarded with suspicion. Sometimes this mistrust manifested itself in Catholics being subjected to restrictions and discrimination, which itself led to further conflict. For example, before Catholic Emancipation was introduced with the Catholic Relief Act of 1829, Catholics were forbidden from voting, becoming MP's or buying land in Ireland.

As of 2010, bigotry and discrimination in employment are usually restricted to a few places where extreme forms of religion are the norm, or in areas with a long history of sectarian violence and tension, such as Northern Ireland, especially in terms of employment; however, this is dying out in this jurisdiction, due to strictly-enforced legislation. Reverse discrimination now takes place in terms of employment quotas which are now applied. In places where more "moderate" forms of Protestantism (such as Anglicanism/Episcopalianism) prevail, the two traditions do not become polarized against each other, and usually co-exist peacefully. Especially in England, sectarianism is nowadays almost unheard of. However in Western Scotland (where Calvinism and Presbyterianism are the norm) sectarian divisions can still sometimes arise between Catholics and Protestants. Indeed, in the early years following the Scottish Reformation there was actually internal sectarian tension between Church of Scotland Presbyterians and 'High Church' Anglicans, whom they regarded as having retained too many attitudes and practices from the pre-Reformation Catholic era. Northern Ireland has introduced a Private Day of Reflection, since 2007, to mark the transition to a post- conflict society, an initiative of the cross-community Healing through Remembering organisation and research project.

The civil wars in the Balkans which followed the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s have been heavily tinged with sectarianism. Croats and Slovenes have traditionally been Catholic, Serbs and Macedonians Eastern Orthodox, and Bosniaks and most Albanians Muslim. Religious affiliation served as a marker of group identity in this conflict, despite relatively low rates of religious practice and belief among these various groups after decades of communism.