Bennett Briggs

Formerly part of Czechoslovakia, and drastically different than its sister-state, Slovakia, in terms of religion, the Czech Republic has one of the least religious populations in the entire world. Fully 35% of the population claims that they are nonreligious. An even larger 45% state that they are “undeclared” when it comes to religion. The largest denomination, with a meager 11% of the total population, is the Roman Catholic Church, followed by a variety of smaller communities and denominations.  Even though the country is not very religious on the whole, the government does a good job of protecting and respecting the freedom of religion for those who do choose to worship.

Within the Ministry of Culture, The Department of Churches is responsible for all religious affairs. All religious groups who choose to register with the Ministry of Culture are eligible to receive tax benefits. The law of the Czech Republic establishes an interesting two-tiered system of registration for religious groups. To register at the first, or lower tier, a religious group must have at least 300 adult members permanently residing in the country. This first-tier registration confers limited tax benefits, establishes annual reporting requirements, and requires a 10- year waiting period before the group can apply for full second-tier registration. The Second tier registration entitles a group to receive state funding, but the group must have membership equal to at least 0.1% of the population, or approximately 10,500 persons, and provide that number of signatures as proof. At the end of 2012 there were 33 state-recognized religious groups.

As within most European countries, the only abuses or violations of religious freedom are anti-semantic practices and discrimination, but the Czech Republic, thru the Ministry of the Interior, has tried to counter these right-wing groups espousing anti- Semitic views by monitoring their activities, increasing cooperation with police from neighboring countries, and all together shutting down unauthorized rallies. Generally, public expressions of anti-Semitism were rare, and authorities forcefully pursued Holocaust-denial investigations and prosecutions. The penal code actually contains provisions regarding hate crimes and specifically outlaws Holocaust denial and provides for prison sentences of from six months up to three years for the public denial, questioning of, approval of, or any attempts to justify the Nazi genocide. January 27 is designated as Holocaust Remembrance Day. The law also outlaws any hatred or attacks based on religion and provides for prison sentences of up to three years for those violations.