Christianity in

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

is a minority religion.

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

who estimated between 280,000 and 450,000 (3.1%–4.8%) are mostly

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

and Georgian Orthodox and

Armenian Apostolic , native_name_lang = hy , icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg , icon_width = 100px , icon_alt = , image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , a ...

. There is also a small

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

Christian community which mostly came from Muslim backgrounds.

History

Christianity spread to territory of present-day Azerbaijan in the first years of the new era. The first stage of this period is called the period of Apostles

Bartholomew Bartholomew (Aramaic: ; grc, Βαρθολομαῖος, translit=Bartholomaîos; la, Bartholomaeus; arm, Բարթողիմէոս; cop, ⲃⲁⲣⲑⲟⲗⲟⲙⲉⲟⲥ; he, בר-תולמי, translit=bar-Tôlmay; ar, بَرثُولَماو� ...

and

Thaddeus Thaddeus (Latin ''Thaddaeus'', Ancient Greek Θαδδαῖος ''Thaddaĩos'', from Aramaic תדי ''Ṯaday'') is a male given name. As of the 1990 Census, ''Thaddeus'' was the 611th most popular male name in the United States, while ''Thad'', ...

(same ones who Christianized

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ...

), who spread the new religion by the benediction of the first patriarch of Jerusalem Yegub. Saint Mary Protector of Caucasus

Eastern Orthodoxy

Adherents of

Eastern Orthodox Christianity Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canoni ...

in Azerbaijan are mainly ethnic

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

and Georgians. Russian Orthodox communities belong to the Russian Orthodox Church in Azerbaijan. Entire territory of Azerbaijan is under ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the ''Russian Orthodox Eparchy of Baku and Azerbaijan'', centered in the

Holy Myrrhbearers Cathedral , native_name = az, Müqəddəs Mürr-daşıyan Zənənlər kafedral kilsəsi , image = Müqəddəs_Mürdaşıyan_Zənənlər_Kafedralı.jpg , pushpin map = Azerbaijan Baku , country = Azerbaijan , denomination = Russian Orthodox , former na ...

in Baku.Православие в Азербайджане / Православие.Ru

Oriental Orthodoxy

Adherents of

Oriental Orthodox Christianity The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 60 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches are part of the Nicene Christian tradition, and represent o ...

in Azerbaijan are mainly ethnic

Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, '' hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...

. The

Armenian Apostolic Church , native_name_lang = hy , icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg , icon_width = 100px , icon_alt = , image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , a ...

currently has no community outside the

Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Artsakh, officially the Republic of Artsakh () or the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (),, is a breakaway state in the South Caucasus whose territory is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan. Artsakh controls a part of the former N ...

. Before the outbreak of the war, Armenians formed the largest Christian population in the country. Today, Armenian churches in Azerbaijan remain closed, because of the large emigration of Armenians and fear of Azerbaijani attacks. During the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, despite the constitutional guarantees against religious discrimination, numerous acts of vandalism against the Armenian Apostolic Church were reported throughout Azerbaijan. At the height of the Baku pogrom in 1990, the Armenian Church of St. Gregory Illuminator was set on fire, but was restored in 2004 and is not used anymore.

Other denominations

There is only one congregation in the

Catholic Church in Azerbaijan The Catholic Church in Azerbaijan is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. There are about 570 local Catholics in the country as of 2016. Azerbaijan is covered entirely by a single Apostolic Pr ...

: a church in Baku was opened in 2007. There are eleven

Molokan The Molokans ( rus, молокан, p=məlɐˈkan or , "dairy-eater") are a Spiritual Christian sect that evolved from Eastern Orthodoxy in the East Slavic lands. Their traditions—especially dairy consumption during Christian fasts—did no ...

communities. The Molokans are a

minority which, much like other Protestants, center their beliefs on the Bible and reject church hierarchy. There is also a German Lutheran community, likely to number less than 7,000

Protestants Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

. According to Rev. Elnur Jabiyev, the former general secretary of the Baptist Union in Azerbaijan, up to 2010, there were eight or nine evangelical churches in Baku but these have now been prevented from openly meeting together by the authorities. 2.5% of the population belong to the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

(1998). The Russian Orthodox Church in Azerbaijan has the Eparchy of Baku and the Caspian region with a seat in Azerbaijan. Among the famous landmark Russian churches are Church of Michael Archangel and the

; the once grand Alexander Nevsky Cathedral has been destroyed by the

communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

in 1937. The Albanian-Udi Church, established in 2003, is of the

Udi people Udis (endonym ''Udi'' or ''Uti'') are a native people of the Caucasus that currently live mainly in Russia and Azerbaijan, with smaller populations in Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and other countries. Their total number is about 10,000 pe ...

minority in Azerbaijan. There is also a

Georgian Orthodox The Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამოციქულო ავტოკეფალური მართლმადიდებელი ეკლესია, tr), commonly ...

community and churches.

History

Eastern Orthodoxy

Oriental Orthodoxy

Other denominations

See also

Notes

Further reading