According to the Lithuanian census of 2021, the predominant religion in Lithuania is Christianity, with the largest confession being that of the Catholic Church (about 74% of the population).|PDF There are smaller groups of Orthodox Christians, Evangelical Lutherans, members of Reformed churches, other Protestants, Jews and Muslims as well as people of other religions.

Freedom of religion Lithuania is a secular state and its constitution guarantees freedom of religion and conscience. Christmas and Easter are recognised as national holidays.

Alongside the equality of all believers guaranteed by the Constitution and international conventions, under current Lithuanian law, there are differences between just registered religious organizations by the Ministry of Justice and Parliamentary recognized as a traditional or a "nontraditional" religion. Only recognized groups hold rights to teach religion in public schools, hold legal marriage ceremonies, and receive small state budget support. Traditional faiths must trace their presence in the country back at least 300 years. Non-traditional denominations must prove that they have been in the country for more than 25 years.

Officially recognized nine traditional Lithuanian religions include Roman Catholic, Greek Rite Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Reform, Old Believers, Jewish, Karaite, and Sunni Muslim faiths.

Currently recognized “nontraditional” groups include only such five denominations as Adventist, Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, and Romuva.

In 2022, the country was scored 4 out of 4 for religious by the Freedom House with a remark, that "nine so-called traditional religious communities, and particularly the Roman Catholic Church, enjoy certain government benefits, including annual subsidies that are not granted to other groups." In 2026, the Freedom House also scores Lithuania 4 out of 4 for religious freedom.

History

Medieval Lithuania was the last pagan nation in Europe, officially converting in the late 14th century.

Starting in 1253, some Lithuanian rulers were baptized individually into the Roman Catholic or Orthodox Church, though Christianity remained confined to their immediate circles. In the late 14th century, those rulers who operated in the East Slav regions of the Lithuania's realm counseled alliance with Moscow Principality, including acceptance of Orthodox Christianity. Those in the core lands of the state favoured an alliance with Poland and acceptance of Roman Christianity. It was not until 1387 that Jogaila formally introduced Catholicism to the Lithuanians, following the conclusion of a union between Lithuania and Catholic Poland.

A noteworthy fact in the history of Orthodoxy in the country is the existence of the short-lived Metropolis of Lithuania, which was independent of the Kievan Metropolis. It was formed in 1315 and disestablished in 1371.

Islam in Lithuania, unlike many other northern European countries, has a long history starting from the 14th century. The medieval Lithuania, stretching several Muslim lands in the south inhabited by Crimean Tatars. A few Muslims migrated to ethnically Lithuanian lands and now referred to as Lithuanian Tatars.

In the 16th century, Protestantism began spreading rapidly in Lithuania. The first wave of Protestantism was Lutheranism that reached Lithuania through Prussia; the second wave was Calvinism that mostly spread through Poland. This was because many Lithuanians had a relatively poor understanding of Catholic beliefs as there were few Lithuanian-speaking priests at the time. In addition, many sons of influential Lithuanian nobles would study abroad in Germany where they would learn about the ideas of Reformation. When they returned home, they would oftentimes use their right of patronage to confiscate Catholic churches and give them to pastors, convert their serfs either to Lutheranism or Calvinism. In 1536, the prevalence of Protestantism grew even more as the Radziwiłł, Billewicz, and Chodkiewicz families left the Roman Catholic Church. However, Protestantism in Lithuania Proper eventually lost ground as it failed to secure the support from the local clergymen and were at odds with one another, which weakened their positions in the country. There were also religious persecutions, which caused many Lithuanian pastors to flee to Lithuania Minor. Despite this, Protestantism remained to have a strong presence in Lithuania Proper until the late 17th century.Gidžiūnas, Viktoras. O.F.M. Marijos kultas Lietuvoje iki protestantizmo atoslūgio [The cult of Mary in Lithuania until the anticlimax of Protestantism]. Aidai.

The Ruthenian Uniate Church—Greek Catholic Church in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth—was created in 1595/1596 by those Eastern Orthodox clergy who subscribed to the Union of Brest.

Russian Old Believers—primarily of Bespopovtsy (priestless) tradition—fled to Lithuania to escape the repression they were subjected to in the Russian Empire.

In the late 18th century, Lithuania became the scholarship centre of European Orthodox traditionalist Jews (Misnagdim) who rejected the new Hasidic movement under the leadership of Vilna Gaon (Elijah ben Solomon Zalman), which adopted the epithets Litvaks (in Slavic), Litvishe (Yiddish word) or (in Hebrew).

German Baptists appeared in Klaipėda Region as early as 1841. Reprint 2014. In the early 20th century, missionaries and adherents of some other Protestant churches appeared in Lithuania. Methodist missionaries from Finland began their work in the country in 1905; and in 1920, the Methodist Mission of Americaka Committee for Poland—established to aid victims of World War I—began operations there. A congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) existed in Klaipėda from 1907 until approximately 1934, when local authorities asked the missionaries to leave the country. Lithuania’s first Pentecostal community was founded in Biržai in 1912, with bylaws registered in 1923. The Seventh-day Adventist Church was firstly registered by the government in 1926.

The first census in independent Lithuania, in 1923, established the following religious distribution: Catholic — 85.7 per cent; Jews — 7.7 per cent; Protestant — 3.8 per cent; Greek Orthodox — 2.7 per cent."Lithuania" by Vytautas Vaitiekūnas, Assembly of Captive European Nations, 1965

Under the policy of Soviet state atheism in the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic beginning in 1940, Christian churches were "turned into prisons, storage facilities, and even asylums." Unlike, for instance, the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church, which retained its legal status as a religious organization during the Soviet years, the Catholic Church in Lithuania was stripped of all legal status and operated illegally. After the Soviet occupation, Lithuanians slowly worked to repair the damaged Christian churches and bring them to religious use.

Demographics Catholicism is the majority faith in Lithuania. As per the 2001 Census, 79% of the population followed Catholicism. It decreased to 77% in the 2011 Census and further decreased to 74% in the 2021 Census. According to a 2016 survey, 70% of young adults said they were Catholic but only 5% go to mass weekly.

As per the 2021 Census, the percentage of Catholics are highest (more than 90%) in the municipalities of Šilalė district, Lazdijai district, Kalvarija and Rietavas and lowest in Visaginas (24.7%).

Orthodox religion was followed by around half the population in Visaginas (49.1%) and significant minorities in the cities of Klaipėda (13.1%) and Vilnius (8.1%). The Old Believers mostly live in Zarasai district (12.1%) and Švenčionys district (5%) municipalities.

Demographics by ethnicity According to the 2021 Census, 85.2% of Poles, 78.8% of Lithuanians, 44% of Belarusians, and 15.3% of Ukrainians were Catholics.

About 50.3% of Russians, 49.3% of Ukrainians, and 29.8% of Belarusians belonged to the Orthodox community and about 10.6% of Russians belonged to the Old Believers community. Islam was followed mostly by Tatars, with 52.7% following it. Judaism was followed by the ethnic Jewish people (27.3%).

Detailed population in Numbers +Religion in Lithuania according to censusesReligion200120112021Number% of the populationNumber%Number%Christianity~2,983,898~85.5%2,233,42579.92%– Catholicism2,789,59880%2,625,22586%2,085,34074.19%– Eastern Orthodoxy140,0004%105,3263.75%– Old Believers27,0000.77%18,1960.65%– Lutheranism20,0000.53%15,7410.56%– Reformed Christianity7,0000.20%5,5400.2%– Baptists––1,0920.04%– Eastern Catholicism300<0.01%7850.03%– Minor Christian groups––1,4050.5%Sunni Muslim2,7000.07%2,8002,1650.08%Judaism4,0000.11%3,3008990.03%– Karaite Judaism250<0.01%250<0.01%255<0.01%Modern paganism––5,1000.14%3,917<0.01%Other1,7430.5%1,6480.58%Irreligious7%171,8106.11%Not specified384,09413.67%

Christianity

Catholic Church

According to the 2021 census, 74% of Lithuanians belonged to the Roman Catholic Church, which has claimed the adherence of the majority of Lithuanians since the Christianization of Lithuania in the 14th and 15th centuries.Endre Bojtár, Foreword to the past: a cultural history of the Baltic people, p. 140 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 régime, which is commemorated in the Hill of Crosses near Šiauliai, a shrine to the anti-communist resistance.

Greek Catholics

The Greek Catholics was one of the most persecuted religious communities during Soviet era. The historic Monastery of the Holy Trinity of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Vilnius serves as a pivotal historical center for the broader Ruthenian Uniate tradition shared by ancestors of mostly Ukrainians and to a lesser extent Belarusians, members of the Belarusian Greek Catholic Church. In 1992, the Basilian Order was recognised as religious centre.

Protestantism Today Protestants make up 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 Klaipėda Region. which still persists. Protestantism has declined with the removal of the German and Prussian Lithuanian populations, 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 the 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.

Lutheranism

Protestants make up 0.8% of the population, 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 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.

Calvinism