Religion in Lithuania

At the 2011 census, 77.2% of Lithuanians belonged to the Catholic Church,[2] which has claimed the adherence of the majority of Lithuanians since the Christianization of Lithuania in the 14th and 15th centuries.[6] Lithuania kept its Catholic identity under the Russian Empire and later under the Soviet Union when some Catholic priests led the resistance against the Communist regime, which is commemorated in the Hill of Crosses near Šiauliai, a shrine to the anti-communist resistance.

The center of Greek Catholic life in Lithuania is the Basilian Monastery and Church of the Holy Trinity in Vilnius. In the past, the monastery was multiethnic but now serves a mostly Ukrainian community.[7]

Protestants are 0.8%, of which 0.6% are Lutheran and 0.2% are Reformed. According to Losch (1932), the Lutherans were 3.3% of the total population; they were mainly Germans in the Memel territory (now Klaipėda). There was also a tiny Reformed community (0.5%[8] which still persists. Protestantism has declined with the removal of the German population, and today it is mainly represented by ethnic Lithuanians throughout the northern and western parts of the country, as well as large urban areas. Believers and clergy suffered greatly during the Soviet occupation, with many killed, tortured or deported to Siberia. Newly arriving evangelical churches have established missions in Lithuania since 1990.[9]

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Vyžiai

Protestants make up 0.8% of the population,[10] with 0.56% belonging to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lithuania.

Lutheranism in Lithuania dates back to the 16th century, when it came mainly from the neighbouring German-controlled areas of Livonia and East Prussia. A Synod in Vilnius united the church in 1557. The parish network covered nearly all of the Grand Duchy, with district centers in Vilnius, Kedainai, Biržai, Slucke, Kojdanove and Zabludove later Izabeline. Small Protestant communities are dispersed throughout the northern and western parts of the country.

The majority of Prussian Lithuanians living in East Prussia and in Memelland (since 1945 the Klaipėda Region of Lithuania) belonged to the Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union. Most resettled in the West Germany after World War II along with the ethnic German inhabitants.

Since 1945, Lutheranism in Lithuania has declined largely due to the ongoing secularization that sweeps throughout Europe.

Lithuanian Evangelical Reformed Church in Biržai

The Lithuanian Evangelical Reformed Church is a historic denomination which was founded in 1557. A notable member was Szymon Zajcusz. In the second half of the 16th century the Unitarians separated. The denomination has over 7,000 members in 14 congregations. The church is a member of the World Communion of Reformed Churches[11] and the World Reformed Fellowship[12]

Various Protestant churches have established missions in Lithuania since 1990, including the United Methodists,[13] the Baptist Union,[14] the Mennonites,[15] and World Venture.[16]

Cathedral of the Theotokos in Vilnius

Eastern Orthodoxy claims 4.1% of the population, mainly from the Russian minority.[10] Orthodox Christianity is the first form of Christianity to arrive in Lithuania, with the marriage of Algirdas to Maria of Vitebsk and the martyrdom of Ss. Anthony, John, and Eustathius of Vilnius. The church founded by Maria of Vitebsk, St. Paraskevi Church, is the oldest continuously existing Christian congregation in the country and one of only two Orthodox churches in Lithuania fully worshiping in the Lithuanian language.

Most of the Armenians in Lithuania, making up about 0.1% of population according to its own estimates, belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church, which is often classified as an Oriental Orthodox Church, in distinction from Eastern Orthodox (to which the main Russian, Greek and Georgian Churches belong).

An Armenian Apostolic Church St. Vardan was opened in Vilnius in 2006.[17]

Karaite kenesa in Vilnius

According to a Karaite tradition, several hundred Crimean Karaites were invited to Lithuania by Grand Duke Vytautas to settle in Trakai ca. 1397. A small community remains in Trakai, which has preserved the Turkic Karaim language and distinctive customs, such as its traditional dish called "kibinai", a sort of meat pastry, and its houses with three windows, one for God, one for the family and one for Grand Duke Vytautas.