Editing Demographics of Lithuania (section)

== Religion ==
{{Main article|Religion in Lithuania}}
[[File:Vilnius.Sv.Onos baznycia.Saint Ann's church2.jpg|thumb|right|[[St. Anne's Church, Vilnius|St. Anne's Church]], [[Vilnius]]]] As per the 2011 census, 77.2% of Lithuanians identified themselves as Roman Catholic.<ref name="religion">Department of Statistics to the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. ''{{cite web|url=http://www.osp.stat.gov.lt/en/web/guest/pranesimai-spaudai?articleId=223122 |title=Ethnicity, mother tongue and religion |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141008005424/http://www.osp.stat.gov.lt/en/web/guest/pranesimai-spaudai?articleId=223122 |archive-date=2014-10-08 }}''. 2013-03-15.</ref> The Church has been the majority denomination since the [[Christianisation of Lithuania]] at the end of the 14th century. Some priests actively led the resistance against the Communist regime (symbolised by the [[Hill of Crosses]]).

In the first half of the 20th century, the [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]] Protestant church had around 200,000 members, 9% of the total population, mostly Protestant Lithuanians from the former Memel Territory and Germans, but it has declined since 1945. Small Protestant communities are dispersed throughout the northern and western parts of the country. Believers and clergy suffered greatly during the Soviet occupation, with many killed, tortured or deported to Siberia. Various Protestant churches have established missions in Lithuania since 1990.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.umc.org/site/c.gjJTJbMUIuE/b.2012693/k.AEBE/United_Methodists_evangelize_in_Lithuania_with_ads_brochures.htm |title=United Methodists evangelize in Lithuania with ads, brochures |publisher=Umc.org |date=11 August 2006 |access-date=25 April 2010 |archive-date=14 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014092015/http://www.umc.org/site/c.gjJTJbMUIuE/b.2012693/k.AEBE/United_Methodists_evangelize_in_Lithuania_with_ads_brochures.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> 4.1% are [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]], 0.8% are [[Old Believers]] (both mainly among the Russian minority), 0.8% are Protestant and 6.1% have [[irreligion|no religion]].

Lithuania was historically home to a significant [[History of the Jews in Lithuania|Jewish community]] and was an important center of Jewish scholarship and culture from the 18th century, until the community, numbering about 160,000 before World War II, was almost [[Holocaust in Lithuania|entirely annihilated]] during [[the Holocaust]].<ref name="Bubnys_vanished219">{{cite book |author=Arūnas Bubnys |chapter=Holocaust in Lithuania: An Outline of the Major Stages and Their Results |title=The Vanished World of Lithuanian Jews |publisher=Rodopi |year=2004 |isbn=90-420-0850-4 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mdXRKbcyi5oC&pg=PA219 |pages=218–219 |access-date=2020-12-20 |archive-date=2016-01-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160115084900/https://books.google.com/books?id=mdXRKbcyi5oC&pg=PA219&vq=is+the+worst+tragedy+of+Lithuania%27s&dq=Holocaust+1941+Lithuania&as_brr=3&source=gbs_search_s&sig=ZtduokysVV6MqLWS7I9uw7tMUFE |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Lithuania|url=http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005444|encyclopedia=Holocaust Encyclopedia|publisher=United States Holocaust Memorial Museum|access-date=12 April 2012|archive-date=20 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120920235107/http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005444|url-status=live}}</ref> By 2011, around 3000 people in Lithuania identified themselves as Jews, while around 1200 identified with Judaic religious community.<ref>{{cite web|title=Census 2011. Population by ethnicity and municipality|url=http://www.osp.stat.gov.lt/documents/10180/217110/Population_by_ethnicity_municipality.xls|work=Statistics Lithuania|access-date=28 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924063013/http://www.osp.stat.gov.lt/documents/10180/217110/Population_by_ethnicity_municipality.xls|archive-date=24 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Census 2011. Population by religious community indicated, municipalities|url=http://www.osp.stat.gov.lt/documents/10180/217110/Population_by_religion_municipality.xls|work=Statistics Lithuania|access-date=28 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303205405/http://www.osp.stat.gov.lt/documents/10180/217110/Population_by_religion_municipality.xls|archive-date=3 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

According to the 2005 [[Eurobarometer|Eurobarometer Poll]],<ref name=EUROBAROMETER>{{cite web|url=http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_225_report_en.pdf |title=Eurobarometer on Social Values, Science and technology 2005 |page=11 |access-date=2007-05-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060524004644/http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_225_report_en.pdf |archive-date=2006-05-24 }}</ref> 12% said that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, [[god]], or [[Energy (spirituality)|life force]]", 36% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or [[Energy (spirituality)|life force]]" and 49% of Lithuanian citizens responded that "they believe there is a [[God]]".

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