Czech Republic
POPULATION 10,256,760
ROMAN CATHOLIC 26.3 percent
CZECH EVANGELICAL CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN 1.3 percent
CZECHOSLOVAK HUSSITE CHURCH 0.9 percent
OTHER RELIGIONS (INCLUDING JEWISH, BUDDHIST, MUSLIM) 3.1 percent
UNKNOWN 10.1 percent
WITHOUT RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION 58.3 percent
Country Overview
Introduction
The Czech Republic, a mid-size country in central Europe, is bordered by Poland to the north, Germany to the west, Austria to the south, and Slovakia to the east. Formerly part of Czechoslovakia, it gained independence in 1993 as a result of the "velvet divorce," which split Czechoslovakia into two countries: Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Economically developed, the Czech Republic became a member of NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004.
Christianity arrived in the area in the ninth century C.E. Later, during the early fifteenth century, Jan Hus, a preacher and university master, led an effort to allow the lay public as well as the clergy to receive the Eucharist under both species, both the bread and wine, during Mass, a movement that continued through the establishment of local brethren churches. These Czech "brothers" later joined the Lutheran and Calvinist movements. With the military defeat of the Protestants in 1620, the Roman Catholic Church responded with its Counter Reformation, concluding in 1781 with the Tolerance Edict issued by Habsburg ruler Joseph II.
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