Religion inHungary is varied, withChristianity being the largest religion. In the national census of 2022, 42.5% of the population identified themselves asChristians, of whom 29.2% were adherents ofCatholicism (27.5% following theRoman Rite, and 1.7% theGreek Rite), 9.8% ofCalvinism, 1.8% ofLutheranism, 0.2% ofEastern Orthodox Christianity, and 1.5% of other Christian denominations.[1] 1.3% of the population identified themselves as adherents of other religions;[1] minorities practisingJudaism,Islam,Buddhism,Hinduism, theBaháʼí Faith,Taoism,Hungarian Neopaganism and otherNeopaganisms, andNew Age, are present in the country.[2] At the same time, 40.1% of the population did not answer, not identifying their beliefs or non-beliefs, while 16.1% identified themselves asnot religious.[1]
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In antiquity, the lands of theCarpathian Basin covered by the contemporary state ofHungary were inhabited by sedentary tribes ofCelts andIllyrians (the Pannonians) in the parts west of the riverDanube — the region ofTransdanubia — and by nomadic tribes ofScytho-Siberians (theIazyges) in the parts east of the Danube — theGreat Plain — with varying degrees of relations with each others.[3] In the early years of the 1st century, the Celto-Illyrian western lands were incorporated into the region ofPannonia in theRoman Empire; the Roman military conquest of the region had already begun underAugustus, who in 12–9 BCE had pushed the Roman frontier to the riverbanks of the Danube, and by the year 20 CE the permanent military camp ofAquincum, located within the area which today is the city ofBudapest, had been founded.[4] The Celts and Illyrians were partiallyRomanised under the Roman Empire; this was especially true for their upper classes, while the population as a whole preserved their original cultures for a long time even under Romanisation.[4] Religiously, the Roman authorities built temples of the officialRoman religion of the state, toJupiter,Juno andMinerva, but alsoRomano-Celtic temples which continued the cults of the pre-RomanCeltic religion.[5] Mystery religions, focused on individual otherworldly salvation, originating from the southeastern provinces of the Roman Empire, also spread to Pannonia, including Greco-Roman-IranianMithraism, Greco-Roman-EgyptianIsis-Anubis-Serapis' mysteries, Greco-Roman-SemiticJudaism, and alsoChristianity from the 2nd century, and various places of worship of these faiths were built as well.[5]
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Roman Pannonia was periodically under attack by its eastern nomadic Scythian neighbours of the Great Plain, whom throughout the 2nd and 3rd century were joined by manyGermanic nomads,[6] and at the turn between the 4th and the 5th century by theHuns, a multiethnic confederation of nomadic tribes whose original core can probably be identified as theXiongnu of the Chinese sources, who came fromInner Mongolia and theGobi Desert and against whom the Chinese built theGreat Wall, but by that time, and especially under their kingAttila (c. 406–453), had absorbed many Germanic tribes, especiallyGoths.[7] In 409, and then in 433 by generalFlavius Aetius, the Romans yielded the lands of Pannonia to the Huns, who made them their central settlement; this marked the beginning of an ethnic transformation of the population of the region: as the Roman power waned, the local Celto-Romans, although their population shrank significantly, were not completely displaced by the newcomers, who culturally and linguistically absorbed them.[8] Little is known about the religion of the Huns, apart that a winged griffin may have been theirtotemic animal-ancestor.[9] Between the 6th and the 8th century, the regions of Pannonia and the Great Plain were dominated first by the GermanicGepids and then by theAvars, a multiethnic alliance of nomadic tribes akin to the Huns, who brought other totemisms and the theme of the many-layeredworld tree which reaches the utmost sky, which together with earlier Hunnic beliefs would have continued in the beliefs of the later Hungarians; the regions were also settled by significant communities ofSlavs.[10] In 803, the Frankish emperorCharlemagne defeated the Avar rulers, and Pannonia became part of the officially Christian polity of theCarolingian Empire of the Franks, as theMarch of Pannonia, for the whole 9th century, while the Great Plain fell under the sphere of influence of theFirst Bulgarian Empire.[11] According to some historical accounts, some Avar governors converted to Christianity once they were defeated by the Franks, but there is no trace of Christian elements in the large Avar cemeteries of the epoch.[11]
Foundation of theHungarian state is connected to theHungarian conquerors, who arrived from thePontic-Caspian steppe as a confederation ofseven tribes. TheHungarians arrived in the frame of a strong centralized steppe-empire under the leadership of Grand PrinceÁlmos and his sonÁrpád, they became founders of theÁrpád dynasty, the Hungarian ruling dynasty and the Hungarian state. The religion thought to have been practiced by the majority of the Hungarian tribes consisted ofanimistic andshamanic elements according to scholars, and is hypothesised to have been similar toSiberian shamanism-Tengrism.[12] Scholars have also compared it toSumerian andScythian religions.[13] The conception of a supreme God, akin to the pan-SiberianTengri (meaning "Heaven" or "God" in Turkic), has also been hypothesised.[14] Some scholars, however, have disputed the identification of the Hungarian shaman-like figures, thetáltoses, as shamans in the typical Siberian sense, and have found no clear evidence of shamanic rituals.[15] Based on later prohibitions from Christian regulations, there is evidence that they practised sacrifices at holy groves and springs.[16] Meanwhile, Islam was practiced by a sizeable minority of the settled Hungarian tribes.[17][18][19][20]Muslim Hungarians of that period described the other religion as being based onastrotheology and the worship of natural forces andfire.[16]
The evidence that Christianity was practised among the Hungarians before the 950s is weak.[21] The question of the continuity of Christianity in the region since Roman times is unresolved; Christian places of worship that were built in the 3rd and 4th century in Transdanubia, the former Roman province of Pannonia, and under Carolingian rule in the 9th century, would have been rebuilt and reused by the Hungarians only in the 11th century.[22] Some Christian communities of the pre-Hungarian populations of the regions, however, likely persisted under the newcomers, and Christian slaves, as well as trade with neighbouring Christianised Slavic and Germanic lands, probably made the Hungarians acquainted with Christianity.[23] The first attested Hungarian converts to Christianity were the chieftainsBulcsú andGyula, who adoptedEastern Christianity in the mid-10th century, followed by other local lords.[24]
Medieval Hungarian chronicles incorporated Pagan myths, and transmitted them into the folklore; these include the myth of the brothersHunor and Magor led by a divine stag to new lands, and the myth of the divine origins of theHouse of Árpád — the dynasty to which all thegreat princes of the Magyar tribes and later kings of Hungary from the 9th to the early 14th century belonged. Aaccording to this myth the Árpád's forefatherÜgyek was born from the union of a mortal woman, Emese, with theTurul, a divine bird of the Hungarian indigenous religion.[25] The presence of variousTurkic tribal groups in medieval Hungary, such as thePechenegs andKipchaks, further contributed to the religious landscape of the region. The religious practices of these Turkic communities were diverse, with Islam andTengrism being prominent amongst the Pechenegs.[26]
Hungary emerged to statehood at the turn between the 1st and the 2nd millennium, when the federation of the Magyar tribes was reformed into theKingdom of Hungary, andWestern Christianity, specificallyCatholicism, was chosen as thestate religion.[27] Although the Kingdom of Hungary was undoubtedly shapen by Western Christianity, minorities of Eastern Christianity, specificallyEastern Orthodox Christianity, continued to be present throughout the nation's history.[27]Stephen I (c. 975–1038), the first sovereign who assumed the title ofKing of Hungary, adopted Catholicism and laid the foundations of the Catholic Church among the Hungarian people by establishing ten dioceses.[27] Stephen started a program ofChristianisation of his subjects, which at first met the resistance of Pagans and took place at least in part through coercion, through a system of legislative prohibitions of Paganism, Christianising regulations, and penalties for their violations.[28] Within the 12th century, Paganism had been more or less eradicated and was portrayed in a dark light in historical records, although, in the late 13th century, ancient myths were reclaimed to give the ruling dynasty and the people glorious origins.[29] Thenceforth, the principle of "patronate" of the state towards religions, or earlier royal care of spiritual matters, remained firm up throughout the 20th century.[27]
A deep change in the country's religious composition took place during the 16th century, whenProtestantism was quickly adopted by a majority of the Hungarians, especially in the forms at first ofLutheranism fromGermany and shortly afterwards ofCalvinism (Reformed Christianity) fromSwitzerland.[27] TheProtestant Reformation began to spread into Hungary from historicalUpper Hungary (which includedNorthern Hungary but also areas which today are inSlovakia), originally as unclear eclectic theologies brought in the 1520s and 1530s by German itinerant preachers, which in the 1540s stabilised along the lines of the doctrine of Lutheranism, with minorities professingAnabaptism.[30] Protestantism reached Hungary when the Catholic kingdom was in struggle with the IslamicOttoman Empire and the central power was weak,[27] since the Hungarian throne was contended betweenFerdinand I of theAustrianHouse of Habsburg, the house which also held the throne of theHoly Roman Empire, and the Hungarian aristocratJohn Zápolya (1487–1540).[31] In 1526, after theBattle of Mohács, large portions of southern and eastern Hungary, includingSouthern Transdanubia and the whole Great Plain, were incorporated into the Ottoman Empire.[32] At the same time, the Hungarians ofTransylvania further east, who had not fallen under the domains of either the Kingdom of Hungary or the Ottoman Empire, came under the rule of John Zápolya, who proclaimed himself the legitimate king, while the throne of the western main kingdom was claimed by Ferdinand I; while, at first, the latter tolerated Lutherans, Zápolya presented himself as a preserver of Catholicism.[31] Transylvanian Hungarians were, however, the first among whom Calvinism andUnitarianism (anontrinitarian doctrine) took root — first introduced among localTransylvanian Saxons — and, given that Lutheranism became increasingly associated with ethnic Germans throughout all the Hungarian lands, Calvinism became the most successful Protestant doctrine among ethnic Hungarians, first in Transylvania, abetted by the support of the son of Jon Zápolya, KingJohn Sigismund Zápolya (1540–1571; with whose abdication in 1570 also Transylvanian Hungarians came under the Habsburgs), himself a Unitarian convert, and soon afterwards also in Ottoman Hungary.[33] Important Calvinist reformers wereMárton Kálmáncsehi (1500–1550) andPéter Melius Juhász (1532–1572), the latter of whom made theBible and other religious writings available in theHungarian language and madeDebrecen in the Great Plain the centre of Hungarian Calvinism, the "HungarianGeneva" or the second "Calvinist Rome".[34] Calvinism flourished in Ottoman Hungary, thanks to the tolerant Ottoman policies on religions, and was even supported by the Ottomans themselves against Catholicism because of its independent communal organisation and strict discipline, which were appreciated by the Ottoman administration.[35] Calvinism also spread to the eastern parts of Upper Hungary, already penetrated by the Lutheran doctrine.[35] Even in the western Kingdom of Hungary, where Catholicism had survived while elsewhere it had become residual, the nobility supported Lutheranism.[35] TheHungarian Reformed Church became the symbol of national culture, since it popularised the Bible in the vernacular language and contributed to the education of the population through its school system.[36]
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While the Protestant Reformation was spreading rapidly throughout Europe, the House of Habsburg, which also held the throne of the Kingdom of Hungary, bolstered the program ofCounter-Reformation devised by the Catholic Church to thwart the spread of Protestantism.[36] In the Kingdom of Hungary, the Protestant nobility experienced some freedom in the 17th century, but its influence was soon curbed by the re-Catholicising efforts of the Habsburgs.[36] In 1699, theTreaty of Karlowitz ended theGreat Turkish War between theHoly League, of which the Holy Roman Empire of the Habsburgs was a constituent member, and the Ottoman Empire; the former won, and Ottoman Hungary was yolden to the Kingdom of Hungary, so that Hungary was reunified and the Counter-Reformation was extended to the whole country. The sway of the Habsburg state was also strong on the internal affairs of the Catholic Church, especially during the period of theenlightened absolutism ofJosephinism in the 18th century — i.e. the imperial rule ofJoseph II, 1765–1790 — when, for instance, contemplative religious orders were dissolved.[36]
The Counter-Reformation had some success, but Hungary was never entirely converted back to Catholicism and maintained a strong pluralism of religious denominations, aided by a deeply characteristic tolerant approach of the Hungarians towards religious matters, although there were some periods of conflict between Catholics and Protestants, which nonetheless begot a "fruitful tension" which enriched national and local culture.[36] At the end of the 18th century, the Calvinist and Lutheran religions regained complete freedom to be practised, although their legal status remained far from being equal to that of the Catholic Church.[36] The legislation issued in the period of the1848 Revolution, which took place against the Habsburg dynasty, declared the equality of all accepted religions in Hungary, which included all the historical Christian denominations but excluded Judaism.[36] Jews became emancipated only in 1867, and by the end of the century their number had grown to represent over 5% of the total Hungarian population, and the liberal climate of the period led to their quick assimilation into Hungarian society.[36] According to 1890 laws, religions in Hungary were distinguished between "incorporated" ones — namely Catholicism, Calvinism, Lutheranism, Orthodox Christianity, Unitarianism and Judaism, whose representatives held seats in the upper house of the Parliament — and "recognised" ones, which had fewer rights.[36]
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After the end ofWorld War I and theTreaty of Trianon in 1920, national conservative forces came to dominate the political and cultural life of the Kingdom of Hungary, and they rescinded some of the liberal legislation of the foregoing period.[36] In March 1944, duringWorld War II, Hungary was occupied byNazi German forces, and in the following few months three-quarters of the Hungarian Jewry were deported toconcentration camps and killed in theHolocaust.[36]
During the1946–1949 Hungarian Republic, the system of "incorporated" religions of 1890 was abolished, and all religions were treated as equal on the level of the "recognised" ones.[36] With theCommunist takeover in 1948, and the establishment of theHungarian People's Republic in 1949, religious freedom was curtailed, education was nationalised and religious schools abolished, theological faculties were separated from national universities, religious orders were banned, the properties of churches were confiscated by the state, and numerous religious leaders were arrested, including the cardinalJózsef Mindszenty, leader of the Hungarian Catholic Church, who in 1949 was tortured and sentenced to life imprisonment.[37] Between 1948 and 1949, the leaders of all the major churches who had not been arrested, including the Catholic Bishops' Conference, signed agreements with the government, acknowledging the emerging Communist power.[38] The State Office of Church Affairs exercised control over all churches, and while the collaboration between the state and minor denominations was easier, within the Catholic Church such collaboration brought to a rupture in the clergy, since the government claimed the right to regulate the nomination of bishops, and even minor priests, for itself.[38]
In the 1960s, state pressure began to relax, and in 1964 theHoly See of the Catholic Church in Rome signed an agreement with the Hungarian government to define the procedure to be followed in the appointment of bishops, the oath of the clergy on the state's constitution, and the postgraduate education of the Hungarian clergy at thePontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome; the competence of the Holy See in matters of religion was also acknowledged in the document.[38] These stipulations were a unique development in theCommunist Block, and from that year onwards representatives of the Hungarian government and of the Holy See met twice a year, once inBudapest and once in theVatican City.[38] In the late 1980s, the state's control over religions were loosened significantly, historical denominations experienced more freedom and new denominations were recognised.[38] The collapse of the Communist Block in the early 1990s opened a new era of religious freedom and church–state relations in Hungary, inaugurated in 1990 by the "Act of Freedom of Conscience and Religion and the Churches".[38]
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Since the 1990s and throughout the early 21st century, Hungary has become more religiously diverse; all the majorworld religions, and both domestic and internationalnew religious movements, can be found in the country nowadays — apart from historical and new denominations of Christianity and Judaism, the country has seen the rise of movements and organisations ofBuddhism,Hinduism,Islam, theBaháʼí Faith,Taoism,Ősmagyar vallás and otherNeopaganisms, andNew Age.[2] The censuses of the 1990s and of the early 21st century have recorded an overall decline of Christianity among the Hungarians — affiliation to which shrank from 92.9% of the population in 1992, to 74.4% in 2001, 54.2% in 2011, and 42.5% in 2022 — accompanied by a rise of the unaffiliated people and people who declined to answer the census' question about religion.[1] Adherents of new religions might be over-represented among the unanswering population,[40] and contemporary studies on the general beliefs of the Hungarians have shown that among those who do not identify themselves as Christians,syncretism of elements from different religions andesotericism are indeed popular.[41]
Contemporary Hungary is a secular state, where theConstitution guarantees freedom of religious belief and practice, and of irreligion, to all Hungarian citizens, as well as the neutrality of the state in matters of religion, safeguarded by a complex set of legal norms.[42] The wording of the Hungarian Constitution on religious matters is similar to that of theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights, although the Constitution also acknowledges the right of citizens not to espouse any religious convictions.[38] The acknowledged neutrality of the state towards religions implies itsseparation from any particular church, that the state and churches function separately, but does not entail indifference towards religions andlaicism; the state can have an active role in providing an institutional legal framework and funding for churches, in order to ensure the free exercise of religion.[27] The Constitution also affirms that religious convictions can be expressed in ways that are not contrary to laws, that citizens must not be discriminated on the basis of their religious convictions, and recognises the right of parents to determine the religious or non-religious education of their children.[38] Statutory law guarantees the equal rights of all religious organisations and for their cooperation with the state.[38]
In 2011–2012, the Constitution was changed, and a new "Act CCVI on the Right of Freedom of Conscience and Religion, and on the Legal Status of Churches, Religious Denominations, and Religious Communities" was implemented.[43] The new act, which replaced that of 1990, re-introduced a two-tiered classification of religious organisations, similar to that of 1890, distinguishing between officially registered "incorporated" churches, a higher status which also entails access to various privileges such as state funding, and "organisations conducting religious activities", with fewer rights and privileges.[43] Many churches which had been granted official registration between 1990 and 2011 lost their status once the new Act CCVI was implemented.[43] The new legislation was subject to an intense domestic and international criticism, and to lawsuits at theEuropean Court of Human Rights.[43]
The preamble of the 2011–2012 Constitution remembers that "Stephen built the Hungarian State on solid ground and made our country part of Christian Europe a thousand years ago", recognises "the role of Christianity in preserving the nation" and that "the various religious traditions of [the] country" should be honoured.[44] In 2018, an amendment was made to guarantee "the protection of the constitutional identity and Christian culture of Hungary" as "an obligation of every organ of the State".[44] According to Balázs Schanda, judge at theConstitutional Court of Hungary, the Constitution continues to be neutral with regards to religions, and does not commit the state to the Christian religion in particular; the amendment only enshrined the protection of Hungarian culture in its historical nature, as historically characterised by Christianity.[45] It merely recognised an historical fact, that is the role played by Christianity in the history of the Hungarian nation, and does not claim that Christianity plays an exclusive role nowadays.[46]
According to the scholar István Povedák, elements from pre-Christian Paganism and shamanism, already preserved in the folk religiosity of Hungary as well as of Central and Eastern Europe, have been revived and reinvented in forms of Neopaganism, ethnicŐsmagyar vallás, which have become integrated in various dimensions of contemporary Hungarian culture, often in syncretism with Christian elements.[47] Before World War II, in some rural areas certain persons were still consideredtáltoses, i.e. indigenous Hungarian shaman-magicians, by the local communities,[48] and around the mid-1980s a neo-táltos movement began to emerge, with links to internationalneoshamanism.[49] On 15 March 2012, theNational Assembly of Hungary gave aTuvan Tengrist shaman, Ojun Adigzi See-Oglu, the permission to perform a veneration ritual and cleansing ceremony on theHoly Crown of the Hungarian kings, an object which holds both Pagan and Christian meanings, at theHungarian Parliament Building; Ojun was assisted by Éva Kanalas, atáltos, and folk singer, who sangCsángó folk religious songs during the ritual.[50]
The scholars Zoltán Ádám and András Bozóki identify a Pagan-Christian mixed character in the 2011–2012 Constitution, as a reflection of the eclectic reference to both Christianity and ethnic Paganism which has been a feature of the political discourse of the right-wingFidesz party and its leaderViktor Orbán, the governing forces in the 2010s.[51] Daniella Gáti quotes Magdalena Marsovszky saying that the renewed Constitution, despite the references to Christian culture, would be "ultimately not Christian as much as folk and Pagan".[52] According to Ádám Kolozsi, said syncretic, "heterogeneous mixture of Christian and Pagan elements", is part of a "wider spiritual discourse of contemporary Hungarian nationalism".[53] Such an attitude would reconcile two conflicting cultural aspects in the character of the Hungarian nation: the "Western" universal one represented by Christianity, and the "Eastern" tribal one represented by ethnic Paganism,[54] between which the identity of the Hungarians has always swungen.[55] According to László Kürti, such syncretism, present among the people and promoted by the governmental elite, would be coalescing into a new civil Hungarian religion with neoshamanism at its core.[56] Another strong political party of the 21st century,Jobbik, has on the other hand been seen as representing the "essentially Pagan, anti-Christian" fringe of the right-wing.[57] Viola Teisenhoffer noted that theKurultáj, a major festival with a political and anthropological character holden yearly since the second half of the 2000s inBugac, in theSouthern Great Plain, is essentially connected with the Pagan revival, with many contemporary Pagan leaders and their followers taking part in the event.[58]
The majority of Hungarians became Christian in the 11th century. Hungary's firstking,Saint Stephen I, took upWestern Christianity, although his motherSarolt was baptized intoEastern Christianity. Hungary remained predominantly Catholic until the 16th century, when theReformation took place and, as a result, firstLutheranism and then soon afterwardsCalvinism became the religion of almost the entire population. Protestants composed some 85–90% of the entire population, more than a half of the Hungarian population being part of the Calvinist confessing Reformed Church and a quarter of Lutheran confessing Evangelical Church.[59]
In the second half of the 16th century, however, the Catholic Habsburg Kings andJesuits led a successful campaign ofCounter-Reformation among the Hungarians. The Jesuits founded educational institutions, includingPéter Pázmány Catholic University, the oldest university that still exists in Hungary, and also organized missions in order to promote popular piety.
Using both political and apologetic efforts, most of the high nobility composing the Diet was already predominantly Catholic by the 1640s, a process consolidated as the new reconquered estates were granted to the converted aristocracy, who supported in Counter-Reformation. Despite this, the lower nobility, the town burghers and the common people still retained a largely Protestant – especially Calvinist – identity, opposing the Catholic German-likeness of the Habsburg courtly politics. Allied with the Constitutional Rights enforced by the nobility and the military pressure of the ProtestantPrincipality of Transylvania on the eastern border, the Catholic Counter-Reformation achieved partial results compared to the other Habsburg possessions, such as Bohemia and Austria, where Catholicism was restored to the status of the sole religion of the realm.
Some of the eastern parts of the country, especially aroundDebrecen (nicknamed "the Calvinist Rome"), still have significant Protestant communities. TheReformed Church in Hungary is the second-largest church in Hungary with 1,153,442 adherents as of 2011.[1] The church has 1,249 congregations, 27 presbyteries, and 1,550 ministers. The Reformed Church supports 129 educational institutions and has 4 theological seminaries, located in Debrecen,Sárospatak,Pápa, andBudapest.[60]
Lutheranism is the third main historical Christian denomination in Hungary. It was introduced by Saxon settlers in the early 16th century, but after its brief efflorescence, the introduction of the Reformed Church and the Counter-Reformation made it almost non-existent amongst Hungarians up to the late 17th century. Later it was re-introduced through inward migration by Saxons and Slovaks. Today, theEvangelical-Lutheran Church in Hungary is a small minority in Hungary. Despite its relatively small number of adherents, it had a strong power and influence in internal politics since Hungary's independence from the strongly Catholic Habsburg Empire.
The proportion of Protestants in Hungary decreased from around 27% in the early 20th century to about 16% in the early 21st century.[1]Eastern Orthodoxy in Hungary has been the religion mainly of certain national minorities in the country, notablyRomanians,Rusyns,Ukrainians, andSerbs. Hungary has also been the home of a sizableArmenian Catholic community. They worship according to theArmenian Rite, but they have united with the Catholic Church under the primacy of the Pope. Some of the Armenians in Hungary are adherents of theArmenian Apostolic Church.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was legally recognized in Hungary in June 1988 and its first meetinghouse in the country was dedicated in October of the following year by PresidentThomas S. Monson. In June 1990, the Hungary BudapestMission was created, followed by the firststake in June 2006. The mission, itsdistricts, and the Budapest Hungary Stake together contain twenty-twowards and branches serving approximately 5000 members.[61]
Islam was practiced by a sizeable minority of theconquering Hungarians, who arrived in the territory of present-day Hungary at the end of the 9th century.[17][18][19][20] The Muslim population in Hungary was joined by additional Muslim settlers of diverse ethnic origins between the 10th and 13th centuries.[62] Muslims in early Hungary were known asBöszörmény,Khalyzians,Saracen andIshmaelites.[63] Reportedly, around 30 Muslim villages existed in Hungary around the late 12th/early 13th century.[64] The biggest Muslim settlement was in the central part of the Hungarian Kingdom, near the town of present-dayOrosháza. This settlement, entirely populated by Muslims, was likely one of the largest settlements of the early Kingdom. By the late 13th century, the Muslim presence in Hungary had significantly diminished, primarily as a result of oppressive policies implemented by the Hungarian monarchy, largely driven by pressure from Christian groups.[65]
Hungarians were reintroduced to Islam via the Ottoman Empire, particularly when the country cameunder Ottoman rule in the 16th century. Moreover, the country has long absorbed movements of ethnicBosniak,Albanian andTurkish Muslims.[66]
According to the 2011 census, there were 5,579 Muslims inHungary, less than 0.1% of the total population.[1] Of these, 4,097 declared themselves asHungarian and 2,369 asArab by ethnicity.[67]
Historically, Hungary was home to a significantJewish community. In the 19th century, the pressures ofJewish emancipation, acculturation and secularization led growing tension between modernists and traditionalists.These culminated in 1871, when a communal schism between theNeologs, roughly equivalent to AmericanConservative Judaism, andOrthodox, divided Hungarian Jews. The census of January 1941 found that 4.3% of the population, or around 400,000 people, were considered of the Jewish religion (not including Christians of Jewish descent or converts to Christianity, who were registered as Jews by race under the newAnti-Jewish laws). In 2011, only 10,965 Jews (0.1% of the population) remained.[1] SomeHungarian Jews were able to escape theHolocaust during World War II, but most (perhaps 550,000)[68] either were deported to concentration camps, from which the majority did not return, or were murdered by theArrow Cross fascists. Most Jewish people who remain in Hungary live in the centre of Budapest, especially in district VII. The largest synagogue in Europe, theDohány Street Synagogue, is located inBudapest.[69]
In recent decadesBuddhism has spread toHungary, primarily in itsVajrayana forms through the activity ofTibetan missionarymonks. Since in Hungary religions are encouraged to institutionalise intochurch (egyház) bodies in order to be recognised by the government, various institutions have formed, including the Hungarian Buddhist Church (Magyarországi Buddhista Egyházközösség),[70] the Gate of Dharma Buddhist Church (A Tan Kapuja Buddhista Egyház),[71] and others, mostly Vajrayana. AShaolin temple, theHungarian Shaolin Temple, was founded inBudapest in 1994.
"Navayana" Buddhism or Ambedkarite Buddhism, a recent Buddhist denomination emerged among theDalits ofIndia, a form of Buddhism socially and politically engaged for the betterment of the conditions of marginalised peoples, has been spread also to theRomani ethnic minority of Hungary.[72]
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Hungary has seen the rise of a varied movement ofNeopagan religions (Hungarian:Újpogányság), the major ones beingŐsmagyar vallás, meaning "Old Hungarian Religion" — defined as "Hungarian Native Faith" by scholars as it comprises those movements which are or claim to be based on the indigenous spirituality of the Hungarian ethnicity — and non-native religions including EgyptianKemetism, CelticDruidry,Wicca, andMithraism.[73]
Ősmagyar vallás is itself a composite and heterogeneous movement comprising diverse currents and organisations, which often both intertwine and conflict with each other; the scholar Ádám Kolozsi identified three of them:[74] a SumerianZuism-oriented current, whose main ideologist has been the Assyriologist Ferenc Badinyi-Jós;[75] a current of Scythian-HunnicTengrism-oriented nationalesotericism revolving around theHoly Crown of Hungary and aneschatological interpretation of Hungarian history — opened by the first shaman-kingAttila, passing through the conflict betweenCupan (Pagan) andStephen (Christian), and closed by the future shaman-kingMatthias — whose main ideologists have been Gábor Pap and Jajos Szántai and which syncretises the Christian heritage in its spiritual project;[76] and a Uralic-Siberian Tengrism-oriented current, sometimes calledBöőn, whose main ideologist has been Imre Maté.[77]
The heterogeneity ofŐsmagyar vallás is due to the fact that little is known about the pre-Christian Hungarian religion, apart that it was led by shaman-like magicians, calledtáltoses, and it has been hypothesised that it was akin toSiberian shamanism-Tengrism, and in earlier studies toSumerian andScythian religions.[78] Apart from taltosism (táltosság), which is a common denominator of the various streams ofŐsmagyar vallás, supported by the experiences and the work of varioustáltoses, strengthened since the 1980s by studies on the subject by Mihály Hoppál, who also invitedMichael Harner and introducedcore shamanism to Hungary, other sources that have contributed to the development of the movement have been the legacy ofHungarian Turanism, which arose between the two 20th-century World Wars and ascribed the ancientSumerians,Scythians, andHuns, seen as ancestors of the Hungarians, to the same "Turanian macro-ethnicity", i.e.Uralo-Altaic,Uralic orFinno-Ugric-speaking peoples, and the spread of various forms of esotericism andNew Age in the last decades of theCommunist Block and in the 1990s.[79] According to the scholars István Povedák and László A. Hubbes, the Sumerian current has been the dominant one, and has inspired a strong wave of religiousness,[80] in which, for instance,Hungarian runes and symbols are interpreted as deriving from Sumeriancuneiform,[81] theTurul of Hungarian mythology is interpreted as the same as the SumerianAnzû,[82] and the Hungarian termIsten ("God") is equated with theAkkadianIsten ("One"), the SiberianTengri with theSumerianDingir–An (AkkadianIlu).[83]
AmongŐsmagyar vallás organisations, the Hungarian Religious Fellowship (Magyar Vallás Közössége) and the Old Hungarian Church (Ősmagyar Egyház)[84] belong to the Sumerian Zuist current; the Church of Esoteric Teachings – Church of the Holy Crown (Ezoterikus Tanok Egyháza – Szent Korona Egyház) and the Church of the Hun Universe – Holy Mother Church of the Huns (Hun Univerzum Egyháza – Hunok Anyaszentegyháza)[85] belong to the Scythian-Hunnic Tengrist national esoteric current of the Holy Crown; the Traditional Church of the Legal Grounds of the Order of Árpád (Árpád Rendjének Jogalapja Tradicionális Egyház)[86] belongs to a Hunnic Tengrist current which, however, fully rejects Christianity; while the Old Hungarian Taltos Church (Ősmagyar Táltos Egyház) and the Yotengrit Church of the Ancestral Spirit of the Endless Sea (Yotengrit Tengervégtelen Ős-szellem Egyháza)[87] belong to the Uralic-Siberian Tengrist current and emerged directly from the grassrootstáltos movement.[88] The Tengri Fellowship (Tengri Közösség)[89] is another Tengrist organisation in Hungary. Some of these churches cultivate connections with theTraditionalist School and theNouvelle Droite ofAlain de Benoist, which promotes a Europe-wide return to indigenous Paganism.[90]
Among non-native Neopaganisms, the Ankh Church of Eternal Life (Ankh Örök Élet Egyháza)[91] and the Sun Religion (Napvallás)[92] are Kemetic organisations in the country, while the Sodalitas Mithraica Confessing Church (Sodalitas Mithraica Hitvalló Egyház) is an organisation of Mithraism.[93]Wicca, a religion ofEnglish origin, is represented in Hungary by the Church of Celtic-Wiccan Tradition Keepers (Kelta-Wicca Hagyományőrzők Egyháza);[94][95]Zsuzsanna Budapest, a Hungarian who emigrated to theUnited States, is the founder of the Wiccan denomination known asDianic Wicca, popular in North America. The Association of Hungarian Witches (Magyar Boszorkányszövetség) is an organisation of Hungariancontemporary witchcraft.[96]
| Religion | 1920 | 1930 | 1941 | 1949 | 1992 | 1998 | 2001 | 2011 | 2022 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
| Christianity | 7,503,050 | 94.0 | 8,238,104 | 94.8 | 8,909,799 | 95.6 | 9,049,973 | 98.3 | 9,632,801 | 92.9 | 8,151,998 | 79.4 | 7,583,670 | 74.4 | 5,384,200 | 54.2 | 4,086,250 | 42.5 |
| —Catholicism | 5,278,119 | 66.1 | 5,832,238 | 67.2 | 6,353,054 | 68.2 | 6,488,755 | 70.5 | 7,030,182 | 67.8 | 5,934,326 | 57.8 | 5,558,456 | 54.5 | 3,870,565 | 38.9 | 2,808,990 | 29.2 |
| ——Latin Church | 5,102,466 | 63.9 | 5,631,146 | 64.8 | 6,119,218 | 65.7 | 6,240,399 | 67.8 | 7,030,182 | 67.8 | 5,934,326 | 57.8 | 5,289,521 | 51.9 | 3,691,389 | 37.1 | 2,643,855 | 27.5 |
| ——Greek Catholic Church | 175,653 | 2.2 | 201,092 | 2.3 | 233,836 | 2.5 | 248,356 | 2.7 | – | – | – | – | 268,935 | 2.6 | 179,176 | 1.8 | 165,135 | 1.7 |
| —Calvinism | 1,670,990 | 20.9 | 1,813,144 | 20.9 | 1,934,853 | 20.8 | 2,014,718 | 21.9 | 2,167,121 | 20.9 | 1,817,259 | 17.7 | 1,622,796 | 15.9 | 1,153,454 | 11.6 | 943,982 | 9.8 |
| —Lutheranism | 496,799 | 6.2 | 533,846 | 6.2 | 557,193 | 6.0 | 482,157 | 5.2 | 435,498 | 4.2 | 400,413 | 3.9 | 304,705 | 3.0 | 215,093 | 2.2 | 176,503 | 1.8 |
| —Faith Church | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3,708 | 0.04 | 18,220 | 0.2 | 22,647 | 0.2 |
| —Jehovah's Witnesses | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 21,688 | 0.2 | 31,727 | 0.3 | 22,249 | 0.2 |
| —Baptist Christianity | – | – | 9,399 | 0.1 | 17,917 | 0.2 | 18,879 | 0.2 | – | – | – | – | 17,705 | 0.2 | 18,211 | 0.2 | 17,662 | 0.2 |
| —Eastern Orthodox Church | 50,917 | 0.6 | 39,839 | 0.5 | 38,317 | 0.4 | 36,015 | 0.4 | – | – | – | – | 14,520 | 0.1 | 13,710 | 0.1 | 15,578 | 0.2 |
| —Pentecostalism | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 8,428 | 0.1 | 9,326 | 0.1 | 8,947 | 0.1 |
| —Unitarianism | 6,225 | 0.1 | 6,266 | 0.1 | 8,465 | 0.1 | 9,449 | 0.1 | – | – | – | – | 6,541 | 0.1 | 6,820 | 0.1 | 6,552 | 0.1 |
| —Adventism | – | – | 410 | 0.005 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 5,840 | 0.1 | 6,213 | 0.1 | 5,011 | 0.1 |
| —Methodism | – | – | 67 | 0.001 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1,484 | 0.01 | 2,416 | 0.02 | 2,776 | 0.03 |
| —Anglicanism | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 403 | 0.004 | 270 | 0.003 | 372 | 0.004 |
| —Other Christians | – | – | 2,795 | 0.03 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 17,396 | 0.2 | 38,175 | 0.4 | 54,981 | 0.6 |
| Buddhism | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 5,223 | 0.05 | 9,758 | 0.1 | 11,042 | 0.1 |
| Islam | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3,201 | 0.03 | 5,579 | 0.1 | 7,983 | 0.1 |
| Judaism | 473,329 | 5.9 | 444,552 | 5.1 | 400,760 | 4.3 | 133,861 | 1.5 | – | – | 20,534 | 0.2 | 12,871 | 0.1 | 10,965 | 0.1 | 7,635 | 0.1 |
| Hinduism | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1,767 | 0.02 | 2,865 | 0.03 | 3,307 | 0.03 |
| Other religions | – | – | 594 | 0.01 | – | – | 8,678 | 0.1 | – | – | – | – | 3,376 | 0.03 | 17,921 | 0.2 | 85,646 | 0.9 |
| No religion | – | – | 1,959 | 0.02 | 3,841 | 0.04 | 12,287 | 0.1 | – | – | – | – | 1,483,369 | 14.5 | 1,806,409 | 18.2 | 1,549,610 | 16.1 |
| Not stated | 10,496 | 0.1 | 303 | 0.003 | 1,674 | 0.02 | 1,522 | 0.02 | 725,830 | 7.0 | 2,094,468 | 20.4 | 1,104,333 | 10.8 | 2,698,844 | 27.2 | 3,852,533 | 40.1 |
| Total population | 7,986,875 | 8,685,109 | 9,316,074 | 9,204,799 | 10,369,000 | 10,267,000 | 10,198,315 | 9,937,628 | 9,603,634 | |||||||||
Census statistics 1920–2022:[1]
 | This graph was using thelegacy Graph extension, which is no longer supported. It needs to be converted to thenew Chart extension. |
| Religion | Christianity | Catholicism | Calvinism | Lutheranism | Orthodox Christianity | Other Christians | Judaism | Other religions | Not religious | Not answered | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
| Budapest /Central Hungary | 594,988 | 35.3 | 408,823 | 24.3 | 126,920 | 7.5 | 26,162 | 1.5 | 4,839 | 0.3 | 28,244 | 1.7 | 4,839 | 0.3 | 12,076 | 0.7 | 324,157 | 19.2 | 749,282 | 44.5 |
| Pest County | 560,881 | 42.1 | 378,260 | 28.4 | 127,504 | 9.6 | 29,490 | 2.2 | 2,084 | 0.2 | 23,543 | 1.2 | 861 | 0.1 | 4,206 | 0.3 | 215,027 | 16.1 | 552,558 | 41.4 |
| Central Transdanubia | 433,703 | 41.1 | 311,825 | 29.5 | 88,926 | 8.4 | 19,593 | 1.9 | 1,101 | 0.1 | 12,258 | 1.2 | 322 | 0.03 | 2,444 | 0.2 | 181,362 | 17.2 | 437,817 | 41.5 |
| Fejér County | 157,600 | 38.0 | 112,374 | 27.1 | 38,548 | 9.3 | 6,132 | 1.5 | 546 | 0.1 | 4,830 | 1.2 | 137 | 0.03 | 1,001 | 0.2 | 82,154 | 19.8 | 173,934 | 41.9 |
| Komárom-Esztergom County | 112,718 | 37.5 | 80,049 | 26.6 | 25,763 | 8.6 | 3,405 | 1.1 | 219 | 0.1 | 3,282 | 1.1 | 91 | 0.03 | 713 | 0.2 | 57,817 | 19.2 | 129,292 | 43.0 |
| Veszprém County | 158,555 | 47.3 | 119,402 | 35.6 | 24,615 | 7.3 | 10,056 | 3.0 | 336 | 0.1 | 4,146 | 1.2 | 94 | 0.03 | 730 | 0.2 | 41,391 | 12.3 | 134,591 | 40.1 |
| Western Transdanubia | 516,879 | 52.9 | 441,540 | 45.2 | 29,501 | 3.0 | 34,987 | 3.6 | 985 | 0.1 | 9,866 | 1.0 | 306 | 0.03 | 1,680 | 0.2 | 86,147 | 8.8 | 371,246 | 38.0 |
| Győr-Moson-Sopron County | 233,808 | 50.2 | 193,990 | 41.6 | 16,309 | 3.5 | 18,696 | 4.0 | 385 | 0.1 | 4,428 | 0.9 | 138 | 0.03 | 842 | 0.2 | 47,533 | 10.2 | 183,624 | 39.4 |
| Vas County | 142,674 | 57.2 | 120,122 | 48.1 | 6,870 | 2.7 | 12,947 | 5.2 | 315 | 0.1 | 2,420 | 1.0 | 72 | 0.03 | 430 | 0.2 | 16,539 | 6.6 | 89,798 | 36.0 |
| Zala County | 140,397 | 56.8 | 127,428 | 51.5 | 6,322 | 2.6 | 3,344 | 1.3 | 285 | 0.1 | 3,018 | 1.2 | 96 | 0.04 | 408 | 0.2 | 22,075 | 8.9 | 97,824 | 39.6 |
| Southern Transdanubia | 395,377 | 46.2 | 321,308 | 37.6 | 49,727 | 5.8 | 13,316 | 1.6 | 590 | 0.1 | 10,436 | 1.2 | 278 | 0.03 | 2,198 | 0.3 | 124,936 | 14.6 | 332,634 | 38.9 |
| Baranya County | 153,717 | 43.4 | 126,403 | 35.7 | 18,718 | 5.3 | 3,393 | 1.0 | 292 | 0.1 | 4,911 | 1.4 | 114 | 0.03 | 1,192 | 0.3 | 56,491 | 16.0 | 142,508 | 40.2 |
| Somogy County | 144,821 | 49.3 | 119,740 | 40.8 | 17,123 | 5.8 | 4,610 | 1.6 | 141 | 0.1 | 3,207 | 1.1 | 126 | 0.04 | 700 | 0.2 | 36,346 | 12.4 | 111,477 | 38.0 |
| Tolna County | 96,836 | 46.6 | 75,165 | 36.1 | 13,886 | 6.7 | 5,313 | 2.6 | 157 | 0.1 | 2,318 | 1.1 | 38 | 0.02 | 306 | 0.1 | 32,099 | 15.4 | 78,649 | 37.8 |
| Northern Hungary | 541,744 | 49.6 | 396,575 | 36.3 | 118,789 | 10.9 | 9,701 | 0.9 | 706 | 0.1 | 15,973 | 1.5 | 282 | 0.03 | 1,824 | 0.2 | 130,695 | 12.0 | 416,830 | 38.2 |
| Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County | 316,075 | 50.7 | 203,081 | 32.6 | 102,718 | 16.5 | 2,646 | 0.4 | 406 | 0.1 | 7,224 | 1.2 | 162 | 0.03 | 847 | 0.1 | 67,947 | 10.9 | 237,993 | 38.2 |
| Heves County | 132,398 | 46.3 | 113,841 | 39.8 | 12,457 | 4.4 | 905 | 0.3 | 241 | 0.1 | 4,954 | 1.7 | 65 | 0.02 | 602 | 0.2 | 40,414 | 14.1 | 112,413 | 39.3 |
| Nógrád County | 96,839 | 52.1 | 79,653 | 42.8 | 3,614 | 1.9 | 6,150 | 3.3 | 59 | 0.03 | 3,795 | 2.0 | 55 | 0.03 | 375 | 0.2 | 22,334 | 12.0 | 66,424 | 35.7 |
| Northern Great Plain | 633,310 | 45.1 | 287,644 | 20.5 | 312,551 | 22.3 | 10,498 | 0.7 | 1,647 | 0.1 | 20,970 | 1.5 | 369 | 0.03 | 2,926 | 0.2 | 255,260 | 18.2 | 512,466 | 36.5 |
| Hajdú-Bihar County | 201,275 | 38.8 | 67,769 | 13.0 | 123,735 | 23.8 | 1,025 | 0.2 | 709 | 0.1 | 8,037 | 1.5 | 185 | 0.04 | 1,802 | 0.3 | 124,154 | 23.9 | 191,725 | 36.9 |
| Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County | 119,424 | 33.6 | 83,078 | 23.3 | 31,361 | 8.8 | 1,031 | 0.3 | 274 | 0.1 | 3,680 | 1.0 | 80 | 0.02 | 635 | 0.2 | 91,131 | 25.6 | 144,539 | 40.6 |
| Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County | 312,611 | 59.0 | 136,797 | 25.8 | 157,455 | 29.7 | 8,442 | 1.6 | 664 | 0.1 | 9,253 | 1.7 | 104 | 0.02 | 489 | 0.1 | 39,975 | 7.5 | 176,202 | 33.3 |
| Southern Great Plain | 486,997 | 40.5 | 340,644 | 28.3 | 90,064 | 7.5 | 32,756 | 2.7 | 3,626 | 0.3 | 19,907 | 1.7 | 378 | 0.03 | 2,623 | 0.2 | 232,026 | 19.3 | 479,700 | 39.9 |
| Bács-Kiskun County | 235,297 | 47.5 | 179,367 | 36.2 | 36,388 | 7.3 | 10,411 | 2.1 | 392 | 0.1 | 8,739 | 1.8 | 136 | 0.03 | 882 | 0.2 | 60,084 | 12.1 | 198,919 | 40.2 |
| Békés County | 105,964 | 33.6 | 47,231 | 15.0 | 31,842 | 10.1 | 19,376 | 6.1 | 2,426 | 0.8 | 5,089 | 1.6 | 48 | 0.02 | 492 | 0.2 | 91,952 | 29.2 | 116,766 | 37.0 |
| Csongrád-Csanád County | 145,736 | 37.3 | 114,046 | 29.1 | 21,834 | 5.6 | 2,969 | 0.8 | 808 | 0.2 | 6,079 | 1.5 | 194 | 0.1 | 1,249 | 0.3 | 79,990 | 20.4 | 164,015 | 41.9 |
| Religion | <10 | 10–19 | 20–29 | 30–39 | 40–49 | 50–59 | 60–69 | 70–79 | 80–89 | 90+ | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
| Christianity | 303,611 | 32.7 | 370,697 | 39.0 | 352,690 | 32.8 | 439,888 | 35.5 | 621,484 | 39.5 | 583,860 | 45.2 | 648,077 | 53.1 | 549,142 | 61.8 | 256,713 | 68.0 | 37,420 | 65.9 |
| —Catholicism | 205,140 | 22.1 | 247,823 | 26.1 | 235,300 | 21.9 | 299,833 | 24.2 | 430,192 | 27.4 | 408,437 | 31.6 | 462,526 | 37.9 | 390,076 | 43.9 | 180,670 | 47.9 | 26,622 | 46.9 |
| —Calvinism | 71,706 | 7.7 | 90,088 | 9.5 | 83,899 | 7.8 | 101,809 | 8.2 | 138,771 | 8.8 | 128,333 | 9.9 | 140,928 | 11.5 | 121,973 | 13.7 | 58,087 | 15.4 | 8,388 | 14.8 |
| —Lutheranism | 13,755 | 1.5 | 16,857 | 1.8 | 13,639 | 1.3 | 17,418 | 1.4 | 25,907 | 1.7 | 22,528 | 1.7 | 26,569 | 2.2 | 25,037 | 2.8 | 12,808 | 3.4 | 1,985 | 3.5 |
| —Other Christians | 13,010 | 1.4 | 15,929 | 1.7 | 19,852 | 1.6 | 20,828 | 1.9 | 26,614 | 1.7 | 24,562 | 1.9 | 18,054 | 1.5 | 12,056 | 1.4 | 5,148 | 1.4 | 425 | 0.7 |
| Judaism | 391 | 0.04 | 565 | 0.1 | 615 | 0.1 | 838 | 0.1 | 1,456 | 0.1 | 949 | 0.1 | 940 | 0.1 | 1,270 | 0.1 | 457 | 0.1 | 154 | 0.3 |
| Other religions | 1,429 | 0.2 | 2,159 | 0.2 | 6,529 | 0.6 | 6,030 | 0.5 | 6,478 | 0.4 | 4,523 | 0.4 | 1,960 | 0.2 | 712 | 0.1 | 140 | 0.04 | 17 | 0.03 |
| No religion | 230,454 | 24.8 | 185,261 | 19.5 | 214,550 | 29.9 | 236,889 | 19.1 | 266,436 | 16.9 | 179,405 | 13.9 | 141,745 | 11.6 | 71,696 | 8.1 | 20,218 | 5.4 | 2,956 | 5.2 |
| Not stated | 393,043 | 42.3 | 391,674 | 41.2 | 501,108 | 46.6 | 555,912 | 44.9 | 676,210 | 43.0 | 523,804 | 40.5 | 428,955 | 35.1 | 266,008 | 29.9 | 99,843 | 26.5 | 15,976 | 28.1 |
| Total population | 928,928 | 950,356 | 1,075,492 | 1,239,557 | 1,572,064 | 1,292,541 | 1,221,677 | 888,828 | 377,371 | 56,820 | ||||||||||
| Religion | Lower primary school | Upper primary school | Professional secondary school professional diploma | General secondary school maturity diploma | University or college | Person under 15 school career underway | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
| Christianity | 82,817 | 44.2 | 832,462 | 47.8 | 770,849 | 44.5 | 1,151,667 | 42.4 | 838,003 | 45.7 | 488,072 | 35.0 |
| —Catholicism | 56,982 | 30.4 | 583,111 | 33.5 | 552,729 | 31.9 | 793,242 | 29.2 | 571,754 | 31.2 | 328,801 | 23.6 |
| —Calvinism | 19,917 | 10.6 | 189,941 | 10.9 | 164,108 | 9.5 | 264,184 | 9.7 | 189,583 | 10.3 | 116,249 | 8.3 |
| —Lutheranism | 2,089 | 1.1 | 29,954 | 1.7 | 29,577 | 1.7 | 49,818 | 1.8 | 42,727 | 2.3 | 22,338 | 1.6 |
| —Other Christians | 3,829 | 2.0 | 29,465 | 1.7 | 24,435 | 1.4 | 44,423 | 1.6 | 33,939 | 1.8 | 20,684 | 1.5 |
| Judaism | 180 | 0.1 | 605 | 0.03 | 443 | 0.03 | 2,132 | 0.1 | 3,599 | 0.2 | 676 | 0.1 |
| Other religions | 536 | 0.3 | 2,471 | 0.1 | 2,651 | 0.1 | 10,629 | 0.4 | 11,451 | 0.6 | 2,239 | 0.2 |
| No religion | 22,824 | 12.2 | 243,698 | 14.0 | 255,187 | 14.7 | 421,929 | 15.5 | 284,508 | 15.5 | 321,464 | 23.1 |
| Not stated | 80,911 | 43.2 | 660,219 | 38.0 | 704,637 | 40.6 | 1,129,830 | 41.6 | 696,155 | 38.0 | 580,781 | 41.7 |
| Total population | 187,268 | 1,739,464 | 1,733,767 | 2,716,187 | 1,833,716 | 1,393,232 | ||||||
In 2020, the outcomes of a large-sampled (53,061 people) and in depth survey on the religiousness, or beliefs, of the Hungarians were published by the Századvég Foundation in the sociological studies bookVallásosság Magyarországon.[41] The outcomes of the survey show that while traditional Christian religiousness is witnessing an "observable disavowal" in Hungarian society, the latter may not be considered averse to belief, and large segments of the population heldsyncretic or "patchwork" beliefs, i.e. mixtures of theorems from various religious traditions, oresoteric beliefs, i.e. beliefs based on theorems such asreincarnation andastrology, rather than being sheer non-believers.[41] Specifically, 42.1% of the Hungarians were Christians, of whom 27% were fully devout Christians, i.e. fully believing in the theorems of Christian theology, and 15.1% were partially devout Christians, i.e. only believing in some theorems of Christian theology; at the same time, 27.9% of the Hungarians were syncretists, 5.3% were esotericists, and 24.7% were sheer non-believers.[41]
| Type of belief | 18–29 | 30–39 | 40–49 | 50–59 | 60+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christianity | 38.0 | 35.1 | 36.0 | 46.4 | 49.7 |
| —Fully believing Christians | 23.6 | 23.2 | 20.4 | 31.2 | 32.8 |
| —Partially believing Christians | 14.4 | 11.9 | 15.6 | 15.2 | 16.9 |
| Syncretism | 27.3 | 32.6 | 37.1 | 28.5 | 19.8 |
| Esotericism | 8.5 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 2.9 | 3.2 |
| Non-believers | 26.2 | 25.6 | 20.2 | 22.2 | 27.2 |
| Officially registered religious organisations (churches) in Hungary, according to the laws on churches of theConstitution of Hungary effective since 2012[100][α] In sequence according to the respective registration number | Type |
|---|---|
| 00001/2012.Hungarian Catholic Church(Magyar Katolikus Egyház) | Christianity |
| 00002/2012.Hungarian Reformed (Calvinist) Church(Magyarországi Református Egyház) | Christianity |
| 00003/2012.Hungarian Evangelical (Lutheran) Church(Magyarországi Evangélikus Egyház) | Christianity |
| 00004/2012. Association of Hungarian Jewish Faith Communities(Magyarországi Zsidó Hitközségek Szövetsége) | Judaism |
| 00005/2012. United Hungarian Israelite Faith Community(Egységes Magyarországi Izraelita Hitközség) | Judaism |
| 00006/2012. Hungarian AutonomousOrthodox Israelite Faith Community(Magyarországi Autonóm Orthodox Izraelita Hitközség) | Judaism |
| 00007/2012.Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Buda(Budai Szerb Ortodox Egyházmegye) | Christianity |
| 00008/2012.Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople – Hungarian Orthodox Exarchate(Konstantinápolyi Egyetemes Patriarchátus – Magyarországi Ortodox Exarchátus) | Christianity |
| 00009/2012. HungarianBulgarian Orthodox Church(Magyarországi Bolgár Ortodox Egyház) | Christianity |
| 00010/2012. HungarianRomanian Orthodox Diocese(Magyarországi Román Ortodox Egyházmegye) | Christianity |
| 00011/2012. Hungarian Diocese of theRussian Orthodox Church – Moscow Patriarchate(Orosz Ortodox Egyház Magyar Egyházmegyéje – Moszkvai Patriarchátus) | Christianity |
| 00012/2012.Hungarian Unitarian Church(Magyar Unitárius Egyház) | Christianity |
| 00013/2012.Hungarian Baptist Church(Magyarországi Baptista Egyház) | Christianity |
| 00014/2012.Faith Church(Hit Gyülekezete) | Christianity |
| 00015/2012. Hungarian Methodist Church(Magyarországi Metodista Egyház) | Christianity |
| 00016/2012. Hungarian Pentecostal Church(Magyar Pünkösdi Egyház) | Christianity |
| 00017/2012.Saint Margaret Anglican Episcopal Church(Szent Margit Anglikán Episzkopális Egyház) | Christianity |
| 00018/2012. Transylvanian Church(Erdélyi Gyülekezet) | Christianity |
| 00019/2012.Seventh-day Adventist Church(Hetednapi Adventista Egyház) | Christianity |
| 00020/2012. HungarianCoptic Orthodox Church(Magyarországi Kopt Ortodox Egyház) | Christianity |
| 00021/2012. Hungarian Islamic Fellowship(Magyar Iszlám Közösség) | Islam |
| 00022/2012. Church of Hungarian Muslims(Magyarországi Muszlimok Egyháza) | Islam |
| 00023/2012. Christ-believingNazarene Churches(Krisztusban Hívő Nazarénus Gyülekezetek) | Christianity |
| 00024/2012. Hungarian Fellowship ofKrishna-conscious Believers(Magyarországi Krisna-tudatú Hívők Közössége) | Hinduism |
| 00025/2012. Free Church of theSalvation Army in Hungary(Üdvhadsereg Szabadegyház Magyarország) | Christianity |
| 00026/2012.The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints(Az Utolsó Napok Szentjeinek Jézus Krisztus Egyháza) | Christianity |
| 00027/2012. Hungarian Church ofJehovah's Witnesses(Magyarországi Jehova Tanúi Egyház) | Christianity |
| 00028/2012. Knowledge Gate Buddhist Church(Tan Kapuja Buddhista Egyház) | Buddhism |
| 00029/2012. Buddhist Mission, Hungarian Arya Maitreya Mandala Church Fellowship(Buddhista Misszió, Magyarországi Árya Maitreya Mandala Egyházközösség) | Buddhism |
| 00030/2012. HungarianKarma Kagyüpa Buddhist Fellowship(Magyarországi Karma Kagyüpa Buddhista Közösség) | Buddhism |
| 00031/2012. Hungarian ChineseChan Buddhist Church(Magyarországi Kínai Chanbuddhista Egyház) | Buddhism |
| 00032/2012.Diamond Way Buddhist Fellowship(Gyémánt Út Buddhista Közösség) | Buddhism |
| Main other religious organisations (churches) in Hungary as of 2004–2011,[102] amongst those which were officially registered before the 2012 laws on churches[α] In alphabetical sequence according to the names in Hungarian; the list may be intrinsically incomplete | Type |
| Ankh Church of Eternal Life(Ankh Örök Élet Egyháza) | EgyptianKemetism |
| Traditional Church of the Legal Grounds of the Order of Árpád(Árpád Rendjének Jogalapja Tradicionális Egyház) | Ősmagyar vallás HunnicTengrism |
| Unification Church(Egyesítő Egyház) | Christianity |
| Church of the Universal Love(Egyetemes Szeretet Egyháza) | New Age Spiritualism |
| Independent Spiritual Order of Human Possibility(Emberi Lehetőség Független Szellemi Rend) | New Age Human Potential Movement |
| Church of Esoteric Teachings – Church of the Holy Crown(Ezoterikus Tanok Egyháza – Szent Korona Egyház) | Ősmagyar vallás Scythian-Hunnic Tengrism |
| Church of the Source(Forrás Egyháza) | New Age Holisticsyncretism |
| Church of the Fellowship of Believers in Alien, More Advanced Intelligences(Idegen, Fejlettebb Intelligenciákban Hívők Közössége Egyház) | New Age Exotheology |
| Karma Decsen Özel Ling Tibetan Buddhist Fellowship(Karma Decsen Özel Ling Tibeti Buddhista Közösség) | Buddhism |
| Church of Celtic-Wiccan Tradition Keepers(Kelta-Wicca Hagyományőrzők Egyháza) | Wicca |
| Church of the Universal Love of the Cosmos(Kozmosz Univerzális Szeretet Egyház) | New Age Protestantism |
| Association of Hungarian Witches(Magyar Boszorkányszövetség) | Contemporary witchcraft |
| Hungarian Taoist Church(Magyar Taoista Egyház) | Taoism |
| HungarianVaishnavite Hindu Church(Magyar Vaisnava Hindu Egyház) | Hinduism |
| Hungarian Religious Fellowship(Magyar Vallás Közössége) | Ősmagyar vallás SumerianZuism |
| Hungarian Baháʼí Fellowship(Magyarországi Baháʼí Közösség) | Baháʼí Faith |
| Hungarian Evangelical Brotherhood(Magyarországi Evangéliumi Testvérközösség) | Christianity |
| Hungarian Pantholocatholic Traditional Church(Magyarországi Pantholokatholikus Tradicionális Egyház) | New Age Belief in God |
| HungarianChurch of Scientology(Magyarországi Szcientológia Egyház) | Scientology |
| Hungarian Xuyun Buddhist Chan Central Church(Magyarországi Xuyun Buddhista Chan Központi Egyház) | Buddhism |
| Menorah Messianic Fellowship(Menóra Messiási Közösség) | Messianic Judaism |
| Om Vishwa Guru Deep Hindu Religious Fellowship(Om Vishwa Guru Deep Hindu Vallási Közösség) | Hinduism |
| Old Hungarian Church(Ősmagyar Egyház) | Ősmagyar vallás Sumerian Zuism |
| Old Hungarian Taltos Church(Ősmagyar Táltos Egyház) | Ősmagyar vallás Uralic-Siberian Tengrism |
| Sodalitas Mithraica Confessing Church(Sodalitas Mithraica Hitvalló Egyház) | Roman-IranianMithraism |
| Szangye Menlai Gedün, Healing Buddha Fellowship(Szangye Menlai Gedün, a Gyógyító Buddha Közössége) | Buddhism |
| Tenzin Sedrup LingRimé Buddhist Centre(Tenzin Sedrup Ling Rimé Buddhista Centrum) | Buddhism |
| Church of the Pure Souls(Tiszta Lelkű Emberek Egyháza) | Christianity |
| Church of the Hun Universe – Holy Mother Church of the Huns(Hun Univerzum Egyháza – Hunok Anyaszentegyháza) | Ősmagyar vallás Hunnic Tengrism |
| Hungarian Fellowship ofVishwa Nirmala Dharma(Vishwa Nirmala Dharma Magyarországi Közössége) | Hinduism |
| Yotengrit Church of the Ancestral Spirit of the Endless Sea(Yotengrit Tengervégtelen Ős-szellem Egyháza) | Ősmagyar vallás Uralic-Siberian Tengrism |
Hungarian citizens are entitled to voluntarily donate 1% of their yearly income tax to officially registered religious organisations (churches) of their choice; in 2023, donations were distributed as follows.[103]
| Religious organisation | Type | Donation In millionHUF | Number of donors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hungarian Catholic Church(Magyar Katolikus Egyház) | Christianity | 6048 | 803,070 |
| Hungarian Reformed (Calvinist) Church(Magyarországi Református Egyház) | Christianity | 2657 | 348,482 |
| Hungarian Evangelical (Lutheran) Church(Magyarországi Evangélikus Egyház) | Christianity | 743 | 92,581 |
| Hungarian Evangelical Brotherhood(Magyarországi Evangéliumi Testvérközösség) | Christianity | 718 | 73,381 |
| Hungarian Fellowship of Krishna-conscious Believers(Magyarországi Krisna-tudatú Hívők Közössége) | Hinduism | 691 | 86,005 |
| Hungarian Baptist Church(Magyarországi Baptista Egyház) | Christianity | 461 | 56,294 |
| Knowledge Gate Buddhist Church(Tan Kapuja Buddhista Egyház) | Buddhism | 290 | 33,566 |
| Diamond Way Buddhist Fellowship(Gyémánt Út Buddhista Közösség) | Buddhism | 203 | 24,377 |
| Faith Church(Hit Gyülekezete) | Christianity | 169 | 36,108 |
| Association of Hungarian Jewish Religious Communities(Magyarországi Zsidó Hitközségek Szövetsége) | Judaism | 131 | 12,612 |
| Hungarian Church of Jehovah's Witnesses(Magyarországi Jehova Tanúi Egyház) | Christianity | 82 | 14,672 |
| Transylvanian Church(Erdélyi Gyülekezet) | Christianity | 77 | 9,398 |
| Buddhist Mission, Hungarian Arya Maitreya Mandala Church Fellowship(Buddhista Misszió, Magyarországi Árya Maitreya Mandala Egyházközösség) | Buddhism | 75 | 9,396 |