Church of the Holy Cross in Coimbra

Christianity is the predominant religion in Portugal, with Catholicism being its largest denomination.

Portugal is a secular state and its constitution guarantees freedom of religion.

Overview

According to the 2021 Census, 80.2% of the population of Portugal is Catholic, though in 2001 only about 19% attended Mass and took the sacraments regularly,^[2] while a larger number wish to have their children baptized, be married in a church, and receive Last Rites.^[3]

Portugal is one of the most religious countries in Europe, most Portuguese believe with certainty in the existence of God and religion is important in their lives.^[4][5] According to the Pew Research Center Portugal is the 9th most religious country out of 34 European countries, 40% of Portuguese Catholics pray daily,^[6] and 36% say religion is very important in their lives.^[7]

Although Church and State are formally separated since 1911, the Roman Catholic precepts continue to have a significant bearing in Portuguese society and culture. The educational and health care systems were for a long time the Church's preserve, and in many cases, whenever a building, bridge, or highway was opened, it received a blessing from the clergy. The Catholic Church in Portugal is also afforded certain rights and privileges in the country's law.^[8]

Demographics

According to the 2021 Census, 80.2% of the population aged 15 and older is Catholic, a figure very similar to that recorded in the 2011 Census, when 81.0% selected Catholicism as their religion. About 5% adhere to other forms of Christianity, with 2.1% being Protestant, 0.7% Jehovah's Witnesses, 0.7% Orthodox, and 1% members of other Christian churches. Just over 1% indicated belonging to non-Christian religions, with 0.4% being Muslim, 0.2% Hindu, 0.2% Buddhist and 0.3% members of other religions. 14% indicated not having any religion.^[9]

Census data show some regional differences. Catholicism is strongest in the Azores (91.6%), Madeira (90.9%) and the North region (88.1%). On the other hand, the Algarve (65.9%) and the Lisbon region (67.5%) have the lowest percentages. It is also in the regions of Lisbon and the Algarve that the highest proportions of members of other Christian churches, of other religions and of people without religious affiliation are found. Members of other Christian religions make up more than 10% of the Algarve's population. In the Lisbon metropolitan area and in the Algarve, more than 2% of the population follow non-Christian religions and the percentage of the non-religious population varies between around 6% in the Azores and Madeira and 23.1% in Lisbon.^[9]

Religion by municipality - 2021 Census

Percentage of Catholics by municipality

Percentage of members of other Christian denominations by municipality

Percentage of members of other religions by municipality

Percentage of non-religious by municipality

In 124 of the 308 municipalities, over 90% of the population indicated being Catholic in the 2021 Census. The municipalities with the highest percentages are Mesão Frio (97.0%), Ribeira de Pena (96.5%), Resende (96.4%) and Baião (96.3%) in the North region, and Vila Franca do Campo (96.3%) in the Azores. The least Catholic municipalities are located in the Algarve and on the Alentejo coast with Lagos (55.2%), Vila do Bispo (56.1%), Sines (56.2%), Aljezur (56.3%) and Odemira (56.7%) with the lowest percentages . The municipalities with the highest proportions of members of other Christian denominations are Lagos (14.3%), Albufeira (13.2%), Portimão (12.7%), Loulé (11.3%) and São Brás de Alportel (11.0%), all in the Algarve. The municipalities with the highest proportion of followers of non-Christian religions are Odemira (16.5%), Albufeira (4.1%), Lisbon (3.9%), Odivelas (3.4%) and Amadora (3.2%), in the Alentejo, Algarve and Lisbon regions. With regard to the non-religious population, the highest percentages are registered in parts of the Alentejo and the Algarve with Sines (35.5%), Vila do Bispo (33.7%), Grândola (31.7%), Aljezur (31.5%) and Aljustrel (31.4%) recording the highest percentages. In 15 municipalities more than a quarter of the population is not religious. On the other hand, in 74 municipalities this percentage is less than 5%.^[9]

There is a very considerable difference in terms of religious composition between the inhabitants with Portuguese nationality and the foreign population residing in the country, which makes up 5.2% of the total population. 82.6% of residents of Portuguese nationality are Catholic, while only 36.4% of foreigners identify with the Catholic Church. Just over 3% of Portuguese nationals belong to other Christian denominations, a percentage that approaches 30% among foreign residents. Only 0.6% of residents of Portuguese nationality reported belonging to non-Christian religions, with this percentage being 12.3% among foreigners. As for the population without religious affiliation, the percentage is 13.7% among residents born in Portugal and 21.5% among residents born abroad.^[10]

Statistics Portugal made available, in November 2023, an anonymized microdata file for public use with a sample of 5% of the responses to the 2021 Census. The question on religion had a very high response rate, of 97.5%.These data show that the percentage of Catholics is higher among women (83.1%) than men (76.8%). On the other hand, the percentage of unaffiliated it is higher among men (17.8%) than women (10.9%). There are no relevant differences between genders regarding the affiliation to other Christian denominations and to non-Christian religions.^[11]

The same microdata file shows that older generations are more religious. The percentage of Catholics varies between 66.9% among the population aged 25-34 and 91.7% among those over 75 years old. It is among younger people that the highest percentages of members of other Christian churches and other religions are found.^[11]

The sample of responses to the Census shows that it is among the population with basic levels of education (1st, 2nd and 3rd cycles of education) that the highest percentage of Catholics is found (86.6%). On the other hand, the lowest percentage of members of the Catholic Church is found among residents with post-secondary education (68.2%). It is at this level of education that the highest percentage of adherents of other Christian churches is found (8.6%). Regarding the unaffiliated, the biggest percentage is found among the population with higher levels of education (23.0%).^[11]

Catholicism is strongest in the rural areas of the country, where 87.0% of residents claimed to belong to this denomination. In urban areas, the percentage of Catholics is 75.9%. In the urban areas there are higher percentages of members of other Christian denominations, of other religions and non-religious people.^[11]

History

18th century organs and ceiling inside Braga Cathedral

As in most provinces of the Roman Empire, the religious beliefs and deities of the Pre-Roman populations mingled and coexisted with Roman mythology. In the Portuguese case, those Pre-Roman religions were basically Proto-Celtic or Celtic, chief amongst them that of the Lusitanians (see Lusitanian mythology).

Jewish populations have existed in the area, going back to the Roman era or even before that, and are directly related to Sephardi history.

The Roman Provinces of Lusitania (comprising most of Portugal south of the Douro river) and of Gallaecia (north of the Douro river) were first Christianized while part of the Roman Empire. During this period, Bracara Augusta (the modern city of Braga) became one of the most important episcopal centres, alongside Santiago de Compostela. Christianity was solidified when the Suevi and the Visigoths—Germanic tribes already Christianized—came into the Iberian Peninsula in the fifth century.

Early Visigoths followed the Arian heresy, but they joined Roman mainstream after the eighth century. The city of Braga played an important role in the religious history of the period, namely during the renunciation of the Arian and Priscillianist heresies. Two synods were held in Braga in the sixth century, marking the origin of its ecclesiastical significance. The Archbishops of Braga retains the title of Primate of Portugal, and long claimed supremacy over the whole of the churches of Hispania.

Braga had an important role in the Christianization of the whole Iberian Peninsula. The first known bishop of Braga, Paternus, lived during the end of the fourth century, although Saint Ovidius (d. 135 AD) is sometimes considered one of the first bishops of this city.^[12] In the early fifth century, Paulus Orosius, a friend of Saint Augustine, born in Braga, wrote several theological and historical works of great importance. In the sixth century, another influential figure was Saint Martin of Braga, a bishop of Braga who converted the Suevi from Arianism to Catholicism. He also founded an important monastery near Braga, in Dumio (Dume), now an archaeological site. Several Ecumenical Councils were held in Braga during this period, a sign of the religious importance of the city.

Christianity saw its importance diminish in southern Portugal during Moorish rule in the Al-Andalus period, beginning in 711 with the Umayyad conquest of Hispania, even if most of the population still followed Christianity according to the Mozarabic Rite. In the north, however, Christianity provided the cultural and religious cement that helped hold Portugal together as a distinctive entity, at least since the reconquest of Porto in 868 by Vímara Peres, the founder of the First County of Portugal. By the same token, Christianity was the rallying cry of those who rose up against the Moors and sought to drive them out. Hence, Christianity and the Catholic Church pre-dated the establishment of the Portuguese nation, a point that shaped relations between the two.

Under Afonso Henriques (r. 1139–1185), the first king of Portugal and the founder of the Portuguese Kingdom, church and state were unified into a lasting and mutually beneficial partnership. To secure papal recognition of his country, Afonso declared Portugal a vassal state of the Pope, and was as such recognized in 1179 through the papal bull Manifestis Probatum. The King found the Church to be a useful ally as he drove the Moors towards the South. For its support of his policies, Afonso richly rewarded the Church by granting it vast lands and privileges in the conquered territories. The Church became the country's largest landowner, and its power came to be equal to that of the nobility, the military orders, and even, for a time, the Crown. But Afonso also asserted his supremacy over the Church, a supremacy that — with various ups and downs — was maintained.

Although relations between the Portuguese State and the Catholic Church were generally amiable and stable, their relative power fluctuated. In the 13th and 14th centuries, the Church enjoyed both riches and power stemming from its role in the reconquest and its close identification with early Portuguese nationalism. For a time, the Church's position vis-à-vis the State diminished until the growth of the Portuguese Overseas Empire made its missionaries important agents of colonization (see, for example, Kingdom of Kongo).

Until the 15th century, some Jews occupied prominent places in Portuguese political and economical life. For example, Isaac Abrabanel was the treasurer of King Afonso V of Portugal. Many also had an active role in the Portuguese culture, and they kept their reputation of diplomats and merchants. By this time, Lisbon and Évora were home to important Jewish communities. In 1497, reflecting events that had occurred five years earlier in Spain, Portugal expelled the Jews and the few remaining Moors — or forced them to convert. In 1536, the Pope gave King João III (r. 1521–1557) permission to establish the Portuguese Inquisition to enforce the purity of the faith. Earlier, the country had been rather tolerant, but now orthodoxy and intolerance reigned. The Jesuit Order was placed in charge of all education.

In the 18th century, anti-Church sentiment became strong. The Marquês de Pombal (r. 1750–1777) expelled the Jesuits in 1759, broke relations with the Holy See in Rome, and brought education under the State's control. Pombal was eventually removed from his office, and many of his reforms were undone, but anti-clericalism remained a force in Portuguese society. In 1821, the Inquisition was abolished, religious orders were banned, and the Church lost much of its property. Relations between Church and State improved in the second half of the 19th century, but a new wave of anti-clericalism emerged with the establishment of the Portuguese First Republic in 1910. Not only were Church properties seized and education secularized, but the Republic went so far as to ban the ringing of church bells, the wearing of clerical garb on the streets, and the holding of many popular religious festivals. With the outbreak of the First World War the Portuguese First Republic viewed it as a unique opportunity to achieve a number of goals: putting an end to the twin threats of a Spanish invasion of Portugal and of foreign occupation of the colonies and, at the internal level, creating a national consensus around the regime. These domestic objectives were not met and the armed forces, whose political awareness had grown during the war, and whose leaders had not forgiven the regime for sending them to a war they did not want to fight, seemed to represent, to conservative forces, the last bastion of "order" against the "chaos" that was taking over the country. By the mid-1920s the domestic and international scenes began to favour an authoritarian solution, wherein a strengthened executive might restore political and social order.

Changes after the Revolution of 1974

In the Portuguese Constitution of 1976, after the Carnation Revolution of 1974 and the transition to democracy, Church and State were again formally separated. The Church continues to have a special place in Portugal, but for the most part, it has been disestablished. Other religions are now free to organize and practice their beliefs.

Catholic procession in Prozelo

In addition to constitutional changes, Portugal became a more secular society. The practice of religion has since declined. The number of men becoming priests fell, as did charitable offerings and attendance at Mass. By the early 1990s, most Portuguese still considered themselves Roman Catholic in a vaguely cultural and religious sense, but only about one-third of them attended Mass regularly. Indifference to religion was most likely among men and young people. Regular churchgoers were most often women and young children.

The Church no longer had its former social influence. During the 19th century and on into the Salazar regime, the Church was one of the most powerful institutions in the country — along with the Army and the social and economic elite. In fact, military, economic, governmental, and religious influences in Portugal were closely intertwined and interrelated, often literally so. Traditionally, the first son of elite families inherited land, the second went into the army, and the third became a bishop. By the early 1990s, however, the Roman Catholic Church no longer enjoyed this pre-eminence but had fallen to seventh or eighth place in power among Portuguese interest groups.

By the 1980s, the Church seldom tried to influence how Portuguese voted, knowing such attempts would probably backfire. During the height of the revolutionary turmoil in the mid-1970s, the Church urged its communicants to vote for centrist and conservative candidates and to repudiate communists, especially in northern Portugal, but after that the Church refrained from such an overt political role.

The Church was not able to prevent the enactment of the constitution of 1976, which separated Church and State, nor could it block legislation liberalizing divorce or abortion, issues it regarded as moral and within the realm of its responsibility.

Religious practices

The image of Our Lady of Fátima present in the Chapel of the Apparitions, Cova da Iria, at the Sanctuary of Fátima

The Sanctuary of Christ the King overlooking Lisbon in Almada

The practice of religion in Portugal has shown striking regional differences. Even in the early 1990s, 60 to 70 percent of the population in the traditionally Catholic North regularly attended religious services, compared with 10 to 15 percent in the historically anti-clerical South. In the Greater Lisbon Area, about 30 percent were regular churchgoers.

The traditional importance of Catholicism in the lives of the Portuguese is evident in the physical organization of almost every village in Portugal. The village churches are usually in prominent locations, either on the main square or on a hilltop overlooking the village. Many of the churches and chapels were built in the 16th century at the height of Portugal's colonial expansion, and were often decorated with wood and gold leaf from the conquests. In recent decades, however, they were often in disrepair, for there were not enough priests to tend them. Many were used only rarely to honor the patron saints of the villages.

Much of the country's religious life has traditionally taken place outside the formal structure and official domain of the Roman Catholic Church. This is especially true in rural areas where the celebration of saints' days and religious festivals is popular. The most famous religious event in Portugal has been the claimed apparition of the Virgin Mary to three children in Cova da Iria, in the village of Fátima, in 1917. Two of the children, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, were beatified in 2000 and canonized saints in 2017 by Pope Francis.^[13] The apparition of the Heavenly Mother in this small village in the district of Santarém has led hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to visit the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima each year, many in the hope of receiving healing.

Women tended to practice their religion more than men did, as evidenced by church attendance. The image of the Virgin, as well as that of Christ, were commonly displayed, even in labour union offices or on signs in demonstrations.

Other aspects of Portuguese folk religion were not approved by the official Church, including witchcraft, magic, and sorcery. Formal religion, folk beliefs, and superstition were frequently jumbled together. Particularly in the isolated villages of northern Portugal, belief in witches, witchcraft, and evil spirits was widespread. Some persons believed in the concept of the "evil eye" and feared those who supposedly possessed it. Again, women were the main practitioners. Almost every village had its "seers," practitioners of magic, and "healers." Evil spirits and even werewolves were thought to inhabit the mountains and byways, and it was believed that people must be protected from them. Children and young women were thought to be particularly vulnerable to the "evil eye."

As people became better educated and moved to the city, they lost some of these folk beliefs. But in the city and among educated persons alike, superstition could still be found, even in the early 1990s. Sorcerers, palm readers, and readers of cards had shops, particularly in poorer neighborhoods, but not exclusively so. In short, a strong undercurrent of superstition still remained in Portugal. The formal Church disapproved of superstitious practices but was powerless to do much about them.

In contrast to that of Spain, Roman Catholicism in Portugal was softer and less intense. The widespread use of folk practices and the humanization of religion made for a loving though remote God, in contrast to the harshness of the Spanish vision. In Portugal, unlike Spain, God and his saints were imagined as forgiving and serene. In Spain, the expressions depicted on the faces of saints and martyrs were painful and anguished; in Portugal they were complacent, calm, and pleasant.^[14]

Other Christians

Other religions

The Lisbon Mosque

Irreligion

There are between 420,960 and 947,160 (4 to 9% of total population) atheist, agnostic, and irreligious people,^[30] according to other sources 6.5% of the population.^[31]

According to the 2021 Census, there were 1,237,130 (14.09%) people who specifically stated they were without religion.

Freedom of religion

In 2023, the country was scored 4 out of 4 for religious freedom.^[32]

See also

• Catholic Church and the Age of Discovery
• Cult of the Holy Spirit
• Dissolution of the monasteries in Portugal
• Fifth Empire
• History of Roman Catholicism in Portugal
• Sebastianism
• Hinduism in Portugal
• Protestantism in Portugal

References

This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. Country Studies. Federal Research Division.