Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

is the largest religion in

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

, with significant minorities of non-religious people and adherents of other faiths. As of 2018, 73.2% of Luxembourg's population adhere to forms of

(63.8% are Catholics, 1.8% are

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

, 3.0% are Orthodox Christians while 4.6% adhere to other Christian denominations). 2.6% of the population are Muslims and 0.6% are followers of other non-Christian religions. 23.4% of the population do not have a religion.EVS Luxembourg 2008 CEPS/INSTEAD
/ref>

Demographics

Since 1979 it has been illegal for the government to collect statistics on religious beliefs or practices. According to a 2010

Pew Research Center The Pew Research Center (also simply known as Pew) is a nonpartisan American think tank based in Washington, D.C. It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the world. It ...

study 70.4% are Christian, 2.3% Muslim, 26.8% Unaffiliated and 0,5% other religions. According to the Eurobarometer Poll 2005, * 44% of Luxembourgish citizens responded that ''"they believe there is a God"''. * 28% answered that ''"they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force"''. * 22% answered that ''"they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life force"''.

State intervention

Luxembourg is a secular state, but the Grand Duchy recognises and supports several denominations, in exchange for which, the state is allowed a hand in their affairs. This status, first afforded to the Catholic Church, stems from

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

's Concordat of 1801, the principles of which have continued to apply to Luxembourg, despite its separation from France in 1815 and its subsequent Dutch ownership. Despite having the same roots as France's official position of ''

laïcité (; 'secularism') is the constitutional principle of secularism in France. Article 1 of the French Constitution is commonly interpreted as the separation of civil society and religious society. It discourages religious involvement in governmen ...

'', Luxembourg's approach to religion has taken a different direction in the past 200 years, reducing the

separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and Jurisprudence, jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the State (polity), state. Conceptually, the term refers to ...

, not increasing it. The state currently recognises the Catholic Church, Judaism, Greek and Russian Eastern Orthodox Christianity, and Protestantism as officially mandated religions. In 2003, representatives of Islam,

Anglicanism Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

, and Romanian and Serbian Orthodox Christianity engaged in discussions to be conferred similar status. A process began in the mid-2000s in which increasingly the tight entanglement between church and state in Luxembourg was questioned. This was partially stimulated by several events, such as the debate on Catholic Church sexual abuse or the Grand Duke's religiously motivated refusal to sign a

euthanasia Euthanasia (from : + ) is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different Legality of euthanasia, euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords Select committee (United Kingdom), se ...

bill adopted by Parliament. This led to the 2007 formation of an alliance of eight organisations, who made the separation of church and state their goal. In 2010, a petition was launched under the name of ''Trennung.lu'' ("Separation.lu"), that demanded the separation of church and state in Luxembourg. It was supported by, amongst others, the youth wings of several political parties. The Allianz vun Humanisten, Atheisten an Agnostiker, founded in 2010, became one of the most vocal advocates of secularism in Luxembourg. In January 2015, the government concluded a new convention with the recognised religions, regrouping the Greek, Romanian, Serbian and Russian Orthodox Churches in one Orthodox Church in Luxembourg, represented by the Metropolitan Archbishop of Belgium, Exarch of the Low Countries and Luxembourg, under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, and adding the Anglican Church and the Muslim Community of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg to the list of recognised religions. This convention has not yet entered into force, however. Moreover, seven non-religious organisations demanded a say in the negotiations about the future financing of religions by the state and the continuation of religion classes in public schools, both of which they demanded be abolished.

Catholic Church

Catholicism is the most practised religion in Luxembourg. Luxembourg was a major centre for Christianity during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, Catholicism was sustained through the Reformation by the hierarchy, buildings, and traditions established in the preceding centuries. The Catholic Church has received state support since 1801.

Protestantism

Protestantism was outlawed in Luxembourg until 1768. By 1815, Luxembourg had small populations of Lutherans, Calvinists, and Waldensians. In 1885, there were 1,100 recorded Protestants out of 213,000 inhabitants of Luxembourg, that is 0.516%. By 1914, there were more than 6,000, or approximately 2.3%. Today it's 3%. Protestantism is a minority religion in Luxembourg. They are divided across several Protestant churches and creeds, including

Lutheranism Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

Calvinism Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyteri ...

, and diverse Evangelical Protestant churches. The largest Protestant churches in the Grand Duchy are the Protestant Church of Luxembourg (''PKL''), Protestant Reformed Church of Luxembourg (''PRKL''), Protestant Church in Germany,

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

, and Protestant Church in the Netherlands. The state has supported the PKL since 1894 and the PRKL since 1982.

Islam

In Luxembourg there are about 18,000 to 20,000 Muslims (est. 2022). In addition, hundreds of Muslims come to work in Luxembourg every workday. There are six mosques in Luxembourg as well as one multi-use room for Muslims, none of which have minarets. Many Luxembourgish Muslims pray in mosques in France, Belgium or Germany. Most Muslims have origins in the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

(

Bosniaks The Bosniaks (, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who sha ...

and

Albanians The Albanians are an ethnic group native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, Albanian culture, culture, Albanian history, history and Albanian language, language. They are the main ethnic group of Albania and Kosovo, ...

approximately 60%), while Arab and other Muslim countries represent about 20%. Sub-Saharan African Muslims account for about 5%, and 15% are other Europeans.

Judaism

Luxembourg's

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

community dates back at least as far as the 13th century, making Judaism the minority religion that has been practised the longest in Luxembourg. There were 1,500 Orthodox Jews in Luxembourg in 2022.US State Dept 2022 report
/ref> During the Holocaust, 1,945 Jewish Luxembourgers were killed, out of a pre-war population of 3,500. Judaism is supported by the state.

Buddhism

Buddhism established a presence in Luxembourg in the 1980s, initially through Tibetan Buddhist centres of the Nyingmapa tradition and later Zen Buddhism. Today, the country hosts several Buddhist organisations, including the Tibetan Cultural Center of Luxembourg and the Centre de Méditation Zen Soto Luxembourg (CMZL). These centres offer activities such as meditation, teachings, and cultural exchange, and represent a small but visible part of Luxembourg's religious diversity.

Irreligion

In the 2000s, surveys showed an increasing share of the population no longer feels connected to Catholicism. In 2002, 94% was still formally Catholic, but in 2008, 25% of the Luxembourgers said they did not belong to any religion. By 2022, over 30% of the populations said they were agnostic, atheist or had no religious belief. A lot of people were increasingly estranged by the Church's belief system, and yet were still members of it, solidifying the current situation. This caused both the association ''Liberté de conscience'' ("Freedom of Conscience") and the Internet portal ''sokrates.lu'' to launch the website ''Fraiheet.lu'' ("Freedom.lu") in 2009, to inform citizens about the options for religious disaffiliation. This secularisation, combined with the struggle to separate church and state, eventually led to the foundation of the Allianz vun Humanisten, Atheisten an Agnostiker in the spring of 2010. It intended to unite the hitherto scattered organised activities by humanist, atheist, agnostic, skeptical and secularist thinking people into one force. The foundation was also explicitly welcomed by, amongst others, politicians from several parties.

References

{{Religion in Europe Culture of Luxembourg Society of Luxembourg