State religion


A state religion is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion, while not a secular state, is not necessarily a theocracy. State religions are subject to advantageous treatment by official or government-sanctioned establishments of them, ranging from incentivising citizens to recognise and practice them through government endorsement to having public spending on the maintenance of religious property and clergy be unrestricted, but the state does not need to be under the legislative control of the clergy as it would be in a theocracy. Generally, these religions have more rights and fewer restrictions in the country than other religions in a country.
Official religions have been known throughout human history in almost all types of cultures, reaching into the Ancient Near East and prehistory. The relation of religious cult and the state was discussed by the ancient Latin scholar Marcus Terentius Varro, under the term of theologia civilis. The first state-sponsored Christian denomination was the Armenian Apostolic Church, established in 301 CE. In Christianity, as the term church is typically applied to a place of worship for Christians or organizations incorporating such ones, the term state church is associated with Christianity as sanctioned by the government, historically the state church of the Roman Empire in the last centuries of the Empire's existence, and is sometimes used to denote a specific modern national branch of Christianity. Closely related to state churches are ecclesiae, which are similar but carry a more minor connotation.
In the Middle East, the majority of states with a predominantly Muslim population have Islam as their official religion, though the degree of religious restrictions on citizens' everyday lives varies by country. Rulers of Saudi Arabia use religious power, while Iran's secular presidents are supposed to follow the decisions of religious authorities since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Turkey, which also has Muslim-majority population, became a secular country after Atatürk's Reforms, although unlike the Russian Revolution of the same time period, it did not result in the adoption of state atheism.
The degree to which an official national religion is imposed upon citizens by the state in contemporary society varies considerably; from high as in Saudi Arabia and Iran, to none at all as in Greenland, Denmark, England, Iceland, and Greece.

Types

The degree and nature of state backing for denomination or creed designated as a state religion can vary. It can range from mere endorsement with freedom for other faiths to practice, to prohibiting any competing religious body from operating and to persecuting the followers of other sects. In Europe, competition between Catholic and Protestant denominations for state sponsorship in the 16th century evolved the principle Cuius regio, eius religio embodied in the text of the treaty that marked the Peace of Augsburg in 1555. In England, Henry VIII broke with Rome in 1534, being declared the Supreme [Head of the Church of England]. The official religion of England continued to be "Catholicism without the Pope" until after his death in 1547.
In some cases, an administrative region may sponsor and fund a set of religious denominations; such is the case in Alsace-Moselle in France under its local law, following the pre-1905 French concordatory legal system and patterns in Germany.

State churches

A state church is a state religion established by a state for use exclusively by that state. In the case of a state church, the state has absolute control over the church, but in the case of a state religion, the church is ruled by an exterior body; for example, in the case of Catholicism, the Vatican has control over the church.

Disestablishment

Disestablishment is the process of repealing a church's status as an organ of the state. In a state where an established church is in place, opposition to such a move may be described as antidisestablishmentarianism.

Current states with a state religion

Buddhism

Governments where Buddhism, either a specific form of it, or Buddhism as a whole, has been established as an official religion:
In some countries, Buddhism is not recognized as a state religion, but holds special status:

Christianity

The following states recognize some form of Christianity as their state or official religion or recognize a special status for it :

Non-denominational Christianity

  • : On 12 March 2025, Parliament voted to amend the Constitution of Papua New Guinea to include in its preamble the words " acknowledge and declare God, the Father; Jesus Christ, the Son; and Holy Spirit, as our Creator and Sustainer of the entire universe and the source of our powers and authorities, delegated to the people and all persons within the geographical jurisdiction of Papua New Guinea."
  • : In June 2017, Parliament voted to amend the wording of Article1 of the constitution, thereby making Christianity the state religion. Part 1, Section reads "Samoa is a Christian nation founded on God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit." The status of the religion had previously only been mentioned in the preamble, which Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi considered legally inadequate.
  • : The preamble to the Zambian Constitution of 1991 declares Zambia to be "a Christian nation", while also guaranteeing freedom of religion.

Catholicism

Jurisdictions where Catholicism has been established as a state or official religion:
  • : Article 75 of the Constitution of Costa Rica confirms that "The Catholic and Apostolic Religion is the religion of the State, which contributes to its maintenance, without preventing the free exercise in the Republic of other forms of worship that are not opposed to universal morality or good customs."
  • : It is an elective, theocratic, absolute monarchy ruled by the Pope, who is also the Vicar of Christ. The highest state functionaries are all Catholic clergy of various national origins. It is the sovereign territory of the Holy See and the location of the Pope's official residence, referred to as the Apostolic Palace.
  • : The Constitution of Liechtenstein describes the Catholic Church as the state religion and enjoying "the full protection of the State". The constitution does however ensure that people of other faiths "shall be entitled to practice their creeds and to hold religious services to the extent consistent with morality and public order".
  • : Article 2 of the Constitution of Malta declares that "the religion of Malta is the Catholic and Apostolic Religion".
  • : Article 9 of the Constitution of Monaco describes the "Catholic, and apostolic religion" as the religion of the state.
Jurisdictions that give various degrees of recognition in their constitutions to Roman Catholicism without establishing it as the State religion:
  • : The Constitution of Andorra allows the Roman Catholic Church to practice freely and openly, and keeps a special relationship between the Church and the government, based on tradition. It also recognizes the Church’s organizations as legal entities, according to their own rules.The government appoints the Roman Catholic Bishop of Urgell, based in Catalonia, Spain, as one of two heads of state, alongside the President of France. Following the revised Education Law of April 2022, the Constitution bans the use of conspicuous religious symbols in public schools and is an attempt to secularize public education.
  • : Article 2 of the Constitution of Argentina explicitly states that the government supports the Roman Catholic Apostolic Faith, but the constitution does not establish a state religion. Before its 1994 amendment, the Constitution stated that the President of the Republic must be a Roman Catholic.
  • : Although Article 3 of the Constitution of El Salvador states that "no restrictions shall be established that are based on differences of nationality, race, sex or religion", Article 26 states that the state recognizes the Catholic Church and gives it legal preference.
  • : The Constitution of Guatemala recognises the juridical personality of the Catholic Church. Other churches, cults, entities, and associations of religious character will obtain the recognition of their juridical personality in accordance with the rules of their institution.
  • : The Constitution of Italy does not establish a state religion, but recognizes the state and the Catholic Church as "independent and sovereign, each within its own sphere". The Constitution additionally reserves to the Catholic faith singular position in regard to the organization of worship, as opposed to all other confessions.
  • : The Constitution of Panama recognizes Catholicism as "the religion of the majority" of citizens but does not designate it as the official state religion.
  • : The Constitution of Paraguay recognizes the Catholic Church's role in the nation's historical and cultural formation.
  • : The Constitution of Peru recognizes the Catholic Church as an important element in the historical, cultural, and moral formation of Peru and lends it its cooperation.
  • : The Constitution of Poland states that "The relations between the Republic of Poland and the Roman Catholic Church shall be determined by international treaty concluded with the Holy See, and by statute."
  • : The Constitution of Spain of 1978 abolished Catholicism as the official state religion, while recognizing the role it plays in Spanish society. The State allocates the 0.7% of the personal income tax corresponding to taxpayers who express their will to support the Catholic Church.
  • : While the Constitution of Timor-Leste enshrines the principles of freedom of religion and separation of church and state in Section 45 Comma 1, it also acknowledges "the participation of the Catholic Church in the process of national liberation" in its preamble.

Eastern Orthodoxy

The jurisdictions below give various degrees of recognition in their constitutions to Eastern Orthodoxy, but without establishing it as the state religion:
  • : The Church of Greece is recognized by the Greek Constitution as the prevailing religion in Greece. However, this provision does not give exclusivity of worship to the Church of Greece, while all other religions are recognized as equal and may be practiced freely.
  • : In the Bulgarian Constitution, Eastern Orthodoxy is recognized as "the traditional religion" of the Bulgarian people, but the state itself remains secular.
  • : The Constitution of Cyprus states: "The Autocephalous Greek-Orthodox Church of Cyprus shall continue to have the exclusive right of regulating and administering its own internal affairs and property in accordance with the Holy Canons and its Charter in force for the time being and the Greek Communal Chamber shall not act inconsistently with such right."
  • : Both the Finnish Orthodox Church and the Evangelical [Lutheran Church of Finland] have judicial ties to the state, even if the Orthodox church has a minority status across the population.
  • : The Georgian Orthodox Church has a constitutional agreement with the state, the constitution recognizing "the special role of the Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia in the history of Georgia and its independence from the state".

Protestantism

The following states recognize some form of Protestantism as their state or official religion:

The Commonwealth">Commonwealth of Nations">The Commonwealth

[Anglicanism]
The Anglican Church of England is the established church in England as well as all three of the Crown Dependencies:

[Nordic countries]

Lutheranism
Jurisdictions where a Lutheran church has been fully or partially established as a state recognized religion include the Nordic States.
Jurisdictions that give various degrees of recognition in their constitutions to Lutheranism without establishing it as the state religion:
  • : The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland has a special relationship with the Finnish state, its internal structure being described in a special law, the Church Act. The Church Act can be amended only by a decision of the synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church and subsequent ratification by the Parliament of Finland. The Church Act is protected by the Constitution of Finland and the state cannot change the Church Act without changing the constitution. The church has the power to tax its members. The state collects these taxes for the church, for a fee. On the other hand, the church is required to give a burial place for everyone in its graveyards. The President of Finland also decides the themes for intercession days. The church does not consider itself a state church, as the Finnish state does not have the power to influence its internal workings or its theology, although it has a veto in those changes of the internal structure which require changing the Church Act. Neither does the Finnish state accord any precedence to Lutherans or the Lutheran faith in its own acts.
  • : Until 2012, the Church of Norway was not a separate legal entity from the government. It was disestablished and became a national church, a legally distinct entity from the state with special constitutional status. The King of Norway is required by the Constitution to be a member of the Church of Norway, and the church is regulated by special canon law, unlike other religions.
  • : The Church of Sweden was the state church of Sweden between 1527 and 2000 when the state officially became secular. The Church does have a special relation to the Swedish state unlike any other religious organizations. For example, there is a special law that regulates certain aspects of the church and the members of the royal family are required to belong to it in order to have a claim to the line of succession. A majority of the population still belongs to the Church of Sweden.

Other/mixed

  • : The Armenian Orthodox Church has a constitutional agreement with the State: "The Republic of Armenia shall recognise the exclusive mission of the Armenian Orthodox Holy Church, as a national church, in the spiritual life of the Armenian people, in the development of their national culture and preservation of their national identity."
  • : The constitution of the Dominican Republic specifies that there is no state church and provides for freedom of religion and belief. A concordat with the Holy See designates Catholicism as the official religion and extends special privileges to the Catholic Church not granted to other religious groups. These include the legal recognition of church law, use of public funds to underwrite some church expenses, and complete exoneration from customs duties.
  • : While Catholicism has not been the state religion since 1987, a 19th-century concordat with the Holy See continues to confer preferential treatment to the Catholic Church, in the form of stipends for clergy and financial support to churches and religious schools. The Catholic Church also retains the right to appoint certain amounts of clergy in Haiti without the government's consent.
  • : The preamble to the Hungarian Constitution of 2011 describes Hungary as "part of Christian Europe" and acknowledges "the role of Christianity in preserving nationhood", while Article VII provides that "the State shall cooperate with the Churches for community goals." However, the constitution also guarantees freedom of religion and separation of church and state.
  • : The Nicaraguan Constitution of 1987 states that the country has no official religion, but defines "Christian values" as one of the "principles of the Nicaraguan nation".
  • : Although Church and State are formally separate, the Catholic Church in Portugal still receives certain privileges.

Islam

Many Muslim-majority countries have constitutionally established Islam, or a specific form of it, as a state religion. Proselytism is often illegal in such states.

Other/mixed

In some countries, Islam is not recognized as a state religion, but holds special status:
  • Bangladesh: Article of the Constitution of Bangladesh declares: "The state religion of the Republic is Islam, but the State shall ensure equal status and equal right in the practice of the Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and other religions." But in 2010, the high court of Bangladesh reinstated secularism as a part of the Bangladesh constitution after terming the 1977 constitutional amendment done by then Bangladesh President Ziaur Rahman as illegal. Political leaders and experts have expressed uncertainty if Bangladesh is a secular state or an Islamic state. Bangladesh regime changes often advocate for different type of religious freedom as in secularism or pluarism.
  • Syria: The Constitutional Declaration of the Syrian Arab Republic carries much of the same context of religion as prior constitutions, albeit with a slight wording change regarding the influence of Islamic jurisprudence on legislation. The new constitution however does not explicitly designate a State Religion in the same way as various other Middle Eastern countries do. Article 3 states "The religion of the President of the Republic is Islam; Islamic jurisprudence is the principal source of legislation.
  • Tajikistan: Although there is a separation of religion from politics, certain aspects of law also privilege Islam. One such law declares "Islam to be a traditional religion of Tajikistan, with more rights and privileges given to Islamic organizations than to religious groups of non-Muslim origin".
  • Tunisia: Article 5 of the Constitution declares that "Tunisia is part of the Muslim world, and the state alone must work to achieve the goals of pure Islam in preserving honourable life of religious freedom". Islam has been given special privileges by the Constitution, though it is no longer the state religion.
  • Turkmenistan: The Constitution claims to uphold a secular system in which religious and state institutions are separate. However, in Turkmenistan, the state actively privileges a form of traditional Islam. The culture, including Islam, is a key facet, contributes to the Turkmen national identity. The state encourages the conceptualization of "Turkmen Islam".
  • Uzbekistan: Since independence, Islam has taken on an altogether new role in the nation-building process in Uzbekistan. The government affords Islam in special status and declared it as a national heritage and a moral guideline.

Judaism

  • : Since the Proclamation of Israeli independence in 1948, Israel is defined in several of its laws as a "Jewish and democratic state". However, the term "Jewish" is a polyseme that can describe the Jewish people as either an ethnic or a religious group. The debate about the meaning of the term "Jewish" and its legal and social applications is one of the most profound issues with which Israeli society deals. The problem of the status of religion in Israel, even though it is relevant to all religions, usually refers to the status of Judaism in Israeli society. Thus, even though from a constitutional point of view Judaism is not the state religion in Israel, its status nevertheless determines relations between religion and state and the extent to which religion influences the political center. The Law of Return, passed on 5 July 1950, gives the global Jewish diaspora the right to relocate to Israel and acquire Israeli citizenship. Section - of that law declares that "Every Jew has the right to come to this country as an Oleh ." In the Law of Return, the State of Israel gave effect to the Zionist movement's "credo" which called for the establishment of Israel as a Sovereign Jewish state with Democratic setups, ideals and values. The State of Israel supports religious institutions, particularly Orthodox Jewish ones, and recognizes the "religious communities" as carried over from those recognized under the British Mandate—in turn derived from the pre-1917 Ottoman system of millets. These are Jewish and Christian. The fact that the Muslim population was not defined as a religious community does not affect the rights of the Muslim community to practice their faith. At the end of the period covered by the 2009 U.S. International Religious Freedom Report, several of these denominations were pending official government recognition; however, the Government has allowed adherents of not officially recognized groups the freedom to practice. In 1961, legislation gave Muslim Shari'a courts exclusive jurisdiction in matters of personal status. Three additional religious communities have subsequently been recognized by Israeli law: the Druze, the Evangelical Episcopal Church, and followers of the Baháʼí Faith.

Political religions

In some countries, there is a political ideology sponsored by the government that may be called political religion.

Multiple religion recognition

Former state religions

Roman religion and Christianity

Christianity, as opposed to Arianism and other ideologies deemed heretical, was declared to be the state religion of the Roman Empire on 27 February 380 by the decree De fide catolica of Emperor Theodosius I.

Han dynasty Confucianism

In China, the Han dynasty advocated Confucianism as the de facto state religion, establishing tests based on Confucian texts as an entrance requirement into government service—although, in fact, the "Confucianism" advocated by the Han emperors may be more properly termed a sort of Confucian Legalism or "State Confucianism". This sort of Confucianism continued to be regarded by the emperors, with a few notable exceptions, as a form of state religion from this time until the collapse of the Chinese monarchy in 1912. Note, however, there is a debate over whether Confucianism is a religion or purely a philosophical system.

Yuan dynasty Buddhism

During the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty of China, Tibetan Buddhism was established as the de facto state religion by the Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan dynasty. The top-level department and government agency known as the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs was set up in Khanbaliq to supervise Buddhist monks throughout the empire. Since Kublai Khan only esteemed the Sakya sect of Tibetan Buddhism, other religions became less important. Before the end of the Yuan dynasty, 14 leaders of the Sakya sect had held the post of Imperial Preceptor, thereby enjoying special power.

Golden Horde and Ilkhanate

The Mongol rulers Ghazan of Ilkhanate and Uzbeg of Golden Horde converted to Islam in 1295 CE because of the Muslim Mongol emir Nawruz and in 1313 CE because of Sufi Bukharan sayyid and sheikh Ibn Abdul Hamid respectively. Their official favoring of Islam as the state religion coincided with a marked attempt to bring the regime closer to the non-Mongol majority of the regions they ruled. In Ilkhanate, Christian and Jewish subjects lost their equal status with Muslims and again had to pay the poll tax; Buddhists had the starker choice of conversion or expulsion.

Other states

  • The State of Deseret was an unrecognised provisional state of the United States, proposed in 1849, by Mormon settlers in Salt Lake City. The provisional state existed for slightly over two years, but attempts to gain recognition by the United States government floundered for various reasons. The Utah Territory which was then founded was under Mormon control, and repeated attempts to gain statehood met resistance, in part due to concerns that the principle of separation of church and state conflicted with the practice of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints placing their highest value on "following counsel" in virtually all matters relating to their church-centered lives. The state of Utah was eventually admitted to the union on 4January 1896, after the various issues had been resolved.
  • : From 1862 to 1893 the Church of Hawaii, an Anglican body, was the official state and national church of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
  • : see details in the State Shintō article.
  • : Article 133 of the 1814 Constitution stipulated the Sovereign Prince should be a member of the Reformed Church; this provision was dropped in the 1815 Constitution. The 1815 Constitution also provided for a state salary and pension for the priesthood of established religions at the time. This settlement, nicknamed de zilveren koorde, was abolished in 1983.
  • was the world's only Hindu state until 2015, when the new constitution declared it a secular state. Proselytizing remains illegal.
  • : the Millet system was the independent court of law pertaining to "personal law" under which a confessional community was allowed to rule itself under its own laws.
  • : Spain was traditionally a Catholic confessional state with the exception of the 1st and 2nd Republics, and currently is a non-confessional state.
  • had Islam as the official religion during the rule of Omar al-Bashir according to the Constitution of Sudan of 2005. It was declared a secular state in September 2020.
  • Tunisia: Article 5 of the Constitution declares that "Tunisia is part of the Muslim world, and the state alone must work to achieve the goals of pure Islam in preserving honorable life of religious freedom". Although Islam has been given special privileges by the Constitution, it is no longer the state religion.
  • sanctioned Buddhism and Confucianism as the state religions. Buddhism became an arm of the shogunate, and temples were used for population registration. Distinctive schools of Japanese Buddhism such as Zen, Pure Land, and Nichiren structured Japanese religious life until the 19th century. Confucian Zhu Xi's teaching became a major intellectual force, and the Four Books became available to virtually every educated person.

Established churches and former state churches

CountryChurchDenominationDisestablished
AnhaltEvangelical State Church of AnhaltUnited Protestant1918
ArmeniaArmenian Apostolic ChurchOriental Orthodox1921
AustriaRoman Catholic ChurchCatholic1918
BadenRoman Catholic ChurchCatholic1918
Baden[Evangelical Church of Baden|United Evangelical Protestant State Church of Baden]United Protestant1918
BavariaRoman Catholic ChurchCatholic1918
Bavaria[Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria|Protestant State Church in the Kingdom of Bavaria right of the Rhine]Lutheran and Reformed1918
BavariaUnited Protestant Evangelical Christian Church of the PalatinateUnited Protestant1918
BarbadosChurch of EnglandAnglican1968
BoliviaRoman Catholic ChurchCatholic2009
BrazilRoman Catholic ChurchCatholic1890
BrunswickEvangelical Lutheran State Church in BrunswickLutheran1918
BulgariaBulgarian Orthodox ChurchEastern Orthodox1946
Central African EmpireRoman Catholic ChurchCatholic1979
ChileRoman Catholic ChurchCatholic1925
ColombiaRoman Catholic ChurchCatholic1936
CubaRoman Catholic ChurchCatholic1902
CyprusChurch of CyprusEastern Orthodox1977
CzechoslovakiaRoman Catholic ChurchCatholic1920
DenmarkChurch of DenmarkLutheran—
El SalvadorRoman Catholic ChurchCatholic1983
EnglandChurch of EnglandAnglican—
EthiopiaEthiopian Orthodox ChurchOriental Orthodox1974
Faroe IslandsChurch of the Faroe IslandsLutheranElevated from a diocese of the Church of Denmark in 2007.
FinlandEvangelical Lutheran Church of FinlandLutheran1867
FinlandFinnish Orthodox ChurchEastern Orthodox1917
FranceCult of ReasonN/A1794
FranceCult of the Supreme BeingN/A1794
FranceRoman Catholic ChurchCatholic1905
GeorgiaGeorgian Orthodox ChurchEastern Orthodox1921
GreeceChurch of GreeceEastern OrthodoxThe Church is recognized by the Greek Constitution as the "prevailing religion" in Greece.
GreenlandChurch of DenmarkLutheranUnder discussion to be elevated from the [Diocese of Greenland|Diocese of Greenland in the Church of Denmark] to a state church for Greenland, similar to the Faroese Church.
GuatemalaRoman Catholic ChurchCatholic1871
HaitiRoman Catholic ChurchCatholic1987
HawaiiChurch of HawaiiAnglican1893
HesseHesse and Nassau|Evangelical Church in Hesse]United Protestant1918
HondurasRoman Catholic ChurchCatholic1982
HungaryRoman Catholic ChurchCatholic1946
IcelandLutheran Evangelical ChurchLutheran—
IrelandChurch of IrelandAnglican1871
ItalyRoman Catholic ChurchCatholic18 February 1984
LiechtensteinRoman Catholic ChurchCatholic—
LippeChurch of LippeReformed1918
LithuaniaRoman Catholic ChurchCatholic1940
LübeckEvangelical Lutheran Church in the State of LübeckLutheran1918
LuxembourgRoman Catholic ChurchCatholicNot an official state church.
MaltaRoman Catholic ChurchCatholic—
Mecklenburg-SchwerinEvangelical Lutheran State Church of Mecklenburg-SchwerinLutheran1918
Mecklenburg-StrelitzMecklenburg-Strelitz State ChurchLutheran1918
MexicoRoman Catholic ChurchCatholic1857
MonacoRoman Catholic ChurchCatholic—
NetherlandsDutch Reformed ChurchReformed1795
NicaraguaRoman Catholic ChurchCatholic1893
North MacedoniaSerbian Orthodox ChurchEastern Orthodox1920
NorwayChurch of NorwayLutheran2012
OldenburgEvangelical Lutheran Church of OldenburgLutheran1918
PanamaRoman Catholic ChurchCatholic1904
ParaguayRoman Catholic ChurchCatholic1992
PeruRoman Catholic ChurchCatholic1993
PhilippinesRoman Catholic ChurchCatholic1898
PolandRoman Catholic ChurchCatholic1947
PortugalRoman Catholic ChurchCatholic1910 revolution|1910] and 1976
Prussia
Evangelical State Church of Prussia's older Provinces United Protestant1918
Prussia
Reformed Church - Synod of Reformed Churches in Bavaria and Northwestern Germany|Evangelical Reformed State Church of the Province of Hanover]Reformed1918
Prussia
Evangelical Lutheran State Church of HanoverLutheran1918
Prussia
Evangelical State Church of Frankfurt upon MainUnited Protestant1918
Prussia
Evangelical Church of Electoral HesseUnited Protestant1918
Prussia
Evangelical State Church in NassauUnited Protestant1918
Prussia
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Schleswig-HolsteinLutheran1918
RomaniaRomanian Orthodox ChurchEastern Orthodox1947
RussiaRussian Orthodox ChurchEastern Orthodox1917
SaxonyEvangelical Lutheran State Church of SaxonyLutheran1918
Schaumburg-LippeEvangelical Lutheran State Church of Schaumburg-LippeLutheran1918
ScotlandChurch of ScotlandPresbyterian"The Kirk" remains the national church, with state control disclaimed since 1638. Not an established faith per the Church of Scotland Act 1921.
SerbiaSerbian Orthodox ChurchEastern Orthodox1920
SpainRoman Catholic ChurchCatholic1978
SwedenChurch of SwedenLutheran2000
ThuringiaChurch bodies in principalities which merged in Thuringia in 1920Lutheran1918
TuvaluChurch of TuvaluReformed—
UruguayRoman Catholic ChurchCatholicConstitution of [Uruguay of 1918|1918]
United Statesnone since 1776, which was made explicit in the Bill of Rights in 1792N/AN/A
VenezuelaRoman Catholic ChurchCatholic1999
Waldeck[Evangelical Church of Hesse-Kassel and Waldeck|Evangelical State Church of Waldeck and Pyrmont]United Protestant1918
WalesChurch of EnglandAnglican1920
WürttembergEvangelical State Church in WürttembergLutheran1918

Former confessional states

The list of former confessional states only includes states that abolished their state religion themselves, not states with a state religion that were conquered, fell apart or otherwise disappeared.