Wikipédia:Tradução/Religião na Letônia
The main religion traditionally practiced in Latvia is Christianity. Lutheranism is the main Christian denomination among ethnic Latvians due to strong historical links with the Nordic countries and Northern Germany, while Roman Catholicism is most prevalent in Eastern Latvia (Latgale) mostly due to Polish influence. The Latvian Orthodox Church is the third largest Christian church in Latvia, with an overwhelming majority of the members being Russian-speaking Soviet-era immigrants and their descendants. In addition, a large portion of Latvians claim to practice no religion.
History editar
Latvia was one of the last regions in Europe to be Christianized. The inhabitants of the region that is now Latvia once practiced Baltic and Finnic paganism, but this practice gradually diminished through the course of centuries. In the 12th to 13th centuries Latvia first fell under the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, as the Christian kings of Denmark, Sweden and the North German Livonian and Teutonic military orders fought for influence in the region in what later became known as the Northern Crusades.
Parts of Eastern Latvia (notably the Koknese and Jersika principalities) shortly came under the influence of the already assimilated Viking rulers of the Rurik dynasty, accepting Orthodox Christianity already in the 12th century. After succumbing to the Livonian Order in the 13th century, the influence of the Orthodox Church faded away until the 19th century.
Despite the Christianization, the local populace in the countryside maintained their faith for several centuries, with pockets of paganism surviving in Latvia up until the 17th century. Along with the rest of the traditional holidays, Christmas (Ziemassvētki) and Easter (Lieldienas) in Latvia still largely retain their pagan roots.
During the Protestant Reformation the teachings of Lutheranism from northern Germany and Scandinavia completely changed the religious landscape in the country, and eventually only Latgale remained Catholic due to the influence of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Both due to the policy of atheism during the Soviet era and the general European trend of secularization a growing percentage of Latvians claim to follow no religion.
Religion in Latvia today editar
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia has 708,773 members.[1] The Latvian Orthodox Church is semi-autonomous and has 370,000 members.[1] Roman Catholicism in Latvia has 430,000 members.[2] Historically, the west and central parts of the country have been predominantly Protestant, while the east – particularly the Latgale region – has been predominantly Catholic.[3] Orthodoxy predominates among the Latvian Russian population.
Desde 2011[update], the population of Jews in Latvia was 416;[1] there were 146 Hindus in Latvia;[1] and there were several hundred Muslims in Latvia.[1] A modern neopagan movement is Dievturība.
As of 2011, the Justice Ministry had registered 1145 congregations.[1] This total included: Lutheran (294), Roman Catholic (250), Orthodox (122), Baptist (94), Old Believer Orthodox (69), Pentecostal (52), Seventh-day Adventist (51), Evangelical (39), New Generation (18), Muslim (17), Jehovah's Witnesses (15), Jewish (13), Methodist (12), New Apostolic (11), Hare Krishna (11), Dievturi (10), Buddhist (4), Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) (4), and 18 other congregations. In 2003, the Government also registered the Christian Scientists as a recognized religious congregation.
In 2011, churches in Latvia provided the following estimates of church membership to the Justice Ministry[1]:
| Adherents | Number |
|---|---|
| Lutherans | 708 773 |
| Roman Catholics | 500 000 |
| Orthodox | 370 000 |
| Baptists | 6 930 |
| Old Believer Orthodox | 34 517 |
| Seventh-day Adventists | 4 046 |
| Jehovah's Witnesses | 290 |
| Methodists | 751 |
| Jews | 416 |
| Buddhists | 155 |
| Muslims | 319 |
| Vaishnavists | 146 |
| Mormons | 852 |
| Pentecostals | 3 268 |
| Evangelicalists | 3 171 |
| New Apostolics | 1 268 |
| Dievturi | 663 |
| Salvation Army | 462 |
| Old Apostolics | 287 |
| New Generation | 3 020 |
| Augsburg Lutheran | 581 |
| German Lutheran | 308 |
| Reformed | 145 |
According to the same source, the Latvian Justice Ministry, "there are significant numbers of atheists, perhaps a majority of the population".[4]
References editar
- ↑ a b c d e f g «Tieslietu ministrijā iesniegtie reliģisko organizāciju pārskati par darbību 2011. gadā» (em Latvian). Consultado em 25 de julho de 2012
- ↑ Reliģiju Enciklopēdija, Statistika (in Latvian). Accessed 2009-07-23.
- ↑ Ščerbinskis, Valters (1999). «Eastern Minorities». The Latvian Institute
- ↑ «International Religious Freedom Report 2003: Latvia». About.com. 2003
Further reading editar
- Stradiņš J (1996). «Martin Luther and the Impact of the Reformation on the History of Latvia. - Dialogue between Christianity and Secularism in Latvia». Annals of European Academy of Sciences and Arts. 15 (VI): 75
- Klīve V (1993). «The Latvian Struggle for Survival: A Religious Perspective». Latvia. Humanities and Social Sciences (1): 51–52
Predefinição:Religion in Europe