Romania is a secular state, and it has no state religion.

However, an overwhelming
majority of the country's citizens are Christian. 81.04% of the country's stable population
identified as Eastern Orthodox in the 2011 census (see also: History of Christianity in Romania).
Other Christian denominations include Roman Catholicism (4.33%), the Romanian GreekCatholic

Church (0.75%-3.3%), Calvinism (2.99%),

Pentecostal denominations

(1.80%).

Romania also has a small but historically significant Muslim minority, concentrated
in Dobrogea, who are mostly of Crimean Tatar and Turkish ethnicity and number around 64,000
people. According to the 2011 census data, there are also approximately 3,500 Jews, around
21,000 atheists and about 19,000 people not identifying with any religion. The 2011 census
numbers are based on a stable population of 20,121,641 people and exclude a portion of about
6% due to unavailable data.
Eastern Orthodoxy
Eastern Orthodoxy is the largest religious denomination in Romania, numbering
16,307,004 according to the 2011 census, or 81.04% of the population. The rate of church
attendance is, however, significantly lower. According to a SeptemberOctober 2007 poll, with
respect to church attendance there are four categories in Romania (percentages relative to general
population): 38% go to church several times a month or more (of which 7% go weekly or more
often), 20% go to church on the average monthly, 33% go only one or two times a year, and 7%
don't attend church.
Roman Catholicism
According to the 2011 census, there are 870,774 Roman Catholics in Romania, making
up

4.33%

of

the

population.

The

largest

ethnic

groups

are Hungarians (500,444,

including Szkely; 41% of the Hungarians), Romanians (297,246 or 1.8%), Germans (21,324 or
59%), andRoma (20,821 or 3.3%), as well as a majority of the country's Slovaks, Bulgarians,
Croats, Italians, Czechs, Poles, and Csng (27,296 in all).
Greek Catholicism
According to the 2011 census, there are 150,593 Greek-Catholics in Romania, making up
0.75% of the population. The majority of Greek-Catholics live in the northern part of
Transylvania. Most are Romanians (124,563), with the remainder mostly Hungarians or Roma.
On the other hand, according to data published in the 2012 Annuario Pontificio, the
Romanian Greek-Catholic Church had 663,807 members (3.3% of the total population), 8
bishops, 1250 parishes, some 791 diocesan priests and 235 seminarians of its own rite at the end
of 2012. The dispute over the figure is included in the United States Department of State report
on religious freedom in Romania. The Romanian Orthodox Church continues to claim many of
the Romanian Greek Catholic Church's properties.
Protestantism
According to the 2011 census, Protestants make up 5.95% of the total population. The
largest denominations included in this figure are theReformed Church (2.99%) and

the Pentecostals (1.80%). Others also included are Baptists (0.56%), Seventh-day Adventists
(0.40%),Unitarians (0.29%), Plymouth Brethren (0.16%) and two Lutheran churches (0.13%),
the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Romania (0.10%) and the Evangelical Church of Augustan
Confession in Romania (0.03%). Of these various Protestant groups, Hungarians account for
most of the Reformed, Unitarians, and Evangelical Lutherans; Romanians are the majority of the
Pentecostals, Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Evangelical Christians;
while Germans account for most of the Augustan Confession Evangelicals. The majority of
Calvinists (Reformed Church) and Unitarians have their services in Hungarian.
Not to be confused with any of the above is the Evangelical Church of Romania (0.08%),
an unrelated Protestant denomination.
Islam
Although the number of adherents of Islam is relatively small, Islam enjoys a 700 year
tradition in Romania particularly in Northern Dobruja, a region on the Black Sea coast which
was part of the Ottoman Empire for almost five centuries (ca. 1420-1878). According to the 2011
census, 64,337 people, approx. 0.3% of the total population, indicated that their religion was
Islam, represented mainly by the vast majority of the country's Turks (26,903) and Tatars
(20,060). 97% of the Romanian Muslims are residents of the two counties forming Northern
Dobruja: eighty-five percent live in Constana County, and twelve percent in Tulcea County.
[6] Since 2007, there are Indonesian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani workers coming to Romania,
there are mostly Muslims
Other religions
Other denominations not listed above but recognised as official religions by the
Romanian state are listed here. The Jehovah's Witnessesnumber around 50,000 adherents (0.25%
of the stable population). Old Believers make up about 0.16% of the population with 30,000
adherents, who are mainly ethnic Russians living in the Danube Delta region.
Serbian Orthodox believers are present in the areas which border Serbia and number
about 14,000 people.
Once fairly well represented in Romania, Judaism has fallen to around 3,500 adherents in 2011,
which is about 0.02% of the population. Less still is the Armenian Christian minority, numbering
about 400 people in total.
Lastly, the number of people who have identified with other religions than the ones explicitly
mentioned in the 2011 census comes to a total of about 30,000 people.
Paganism: Zalmoxianism
Neopagan groups have emerged in Romania over the latest decade, virtually all of them
being ethno-pagan as in the other countries of Eastern Europe, although still small in comparison
to other movements such as smagyar Valls in Hungary and Rodnovery in the Slavic Europe.

The

revived ethnic

religion of

the Romanians is

called Zalmoxianism

and

is

based

on Dacian and Thracian mythological sources, with prominence given to the figure of
god Zalmoxis. One of the most prominent Zalmoxian groups is the Societatea Gebeleizis or
"Gebeleizis Associstion".
Atheism and nonreligious
Approximately 40,000 people have identified as atheists in Romania in the 2011 census.
This includes 21,000 declared atheists and 19,000 with no religious belief. Irreligion is much
lower in Romania than in most other European countries.
Republic of Moldova
Religion in Moldova is separate from the state in that it is much different from any other
state religion in Western Europe. The Constitution of the Republic of Moldova provides for
freedom of religion, and the national government generally respects this right in practice;
however, the law includes restrictions that at times may inhibit the activities of some religious
groups.
The generally amicable relationship among religions in Moldovan society contributes to
religious freedom; however, disputes among various branches of the Christian Orthodox faith
continue. Other religions practiced in Moldova include Islam and Judaism.
Eastern Orthodox Church
The primary religion is Christianity, 90% of the population nominally being Eastern
Orthodox.

Administratively,

there

are

twoautonomous churches

belonging

to

two autocephalous churches (Russian and Romanian) within the Eastern Orthodox communion.
The autonomous Metropolis of Chiinu and Moldova (belonging to the Russian Orthodox
Church), according to the State Service on Religious Issues, has 1,194 parishes; the Metropolis
of Bessarabia (belonging to the Romanian Orthodox Church) has 124 parishes. In addition
followers of the Old Rite Russian Orthodox Church (Old Believers) make up approximately 3.6
percent of the population. The religious traditions of the Eastern Orthodoxy are entwined with
the culture and patrimony of the country. Many self-professed atheists routinely celebrate
religious holidays, cross themselves, and even light candles and kiss icons if local tradition and
the occasion demand.

Roman Catholicism

Moldova forms a single diocese, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Chiinu, which directly
depends on the Holy See. About 0.5% of Moldovans adhere to the Catholic faith.
Other faiths
Adherents of other faiths include Baptists, Pentecostals, Seventh-day Adventists,
Muslims, Jehovah's Witnesses, Bah's, Jews, Unification Church members, Molocans (a
Russian group), Messianic Jews (who believe that Jesus was the Messiah), Lutherans,
Presbyterians, Hare Krishnas, and some other charismatic Christian and evangelical Christian
groups. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) has 2 congregations, and a
combined total of approximately 250 members. According to the most recently available
numbers, the Jewish community has approximately 31,300 members, including approximately
20,000 living in Chiinu; 3,100 in Bli and surrounding areas; 2,200 in Tiraspol; 2,000
in Bender; and 4,000 in small towns.
Freedom of religion
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respects
this right in practice; however, the 1992 Law on Religions, which codifies religious freedoms,
contains restrictions that inhibit the activities of unregistered religious groups. Although the law
was amended in 2002, many of the restrictions remain in place. The law provides for freedom of
religious practice, including each person's right to profess his or her religion in any form. It also
protects the confidentiality of the confessional, allows denominations to establish associations
and foundations, and states that the Government may not interfere in the religious activities of
denominations. The law specifies that "in order to organize and function", religious organizations
must be registered with the Government, and unregistered groups may not own property, engage
employees, or obtain space in public cemeteries in their own names.