Christians as a Minority in the Czech Lands: Causes of and Opportunities for Change in the Situation of the Christian Churches in the Czech Republic

In any discussion of Catholicism in the Czech Lands and in Poland, two stereotypes are quite widespread: “a Pole is a Catholic” and “a Czech is an atheist”. However, if we look at the situation of Christianity in the Czech Republic, we see how complex the sources of the present state of affairs are, and how complicated the relationship of Czechs is to religion. Indeed, the introduction to the article emphasizes how greatly exaggerated the widely accepted stereotype of the “Czech‑atheist” is. The article aims to analyze Czech religious discourse from the beginning of the national reawakening at the end of the eighteenth century, in order to answer the question as to why Christians became a minority in the Czech Lands. A further question considered is how Christians function as a minority.

In any discussion of Catholicism in the Czech Lands and in Poland, two stereotypes are quite widespread: “a Pole is a Catholic” and “a Czech is an atheist”. However, if we look at the situation of Christianity in the Czech Republic, we see how complex the sources of the present state of affairs are, and how complicated the relationship of Czechs is to religion. Indeed, the introduction to the article emphasizes how greatly exaggerated the widely accepted stereotype of the “Czech‑atheist” is. The article aims to analyze Czech religious discourse from the beginning of the national reawakening at the end of the eighteenth century, in order to answer the question as to why Christians became a minority in the Czech Lands. A further question considered is how Christians function as a minority.