Changes in Religious Values in the Czech Republic

Abstract

The article provides a brief sociological description of religious development in the regions of Bohemia & Moravia over the past centuries & a more detailed analysis of recent trends based on the 1991 & 1999 European Values Study. The main conclusions for the present situation of the country are (1) secularization continues, but not as quickly as 30 or 40 years ago; (2) religious ideas of average citizens differ more & more from the traditional Christian dogmatic or atheistic ideology (religious syncretism & Far East inspirations are widespread in the Czech Republic now); (3) the paradoxical character of current trends in the Czech Roman Catholic Church is stressed - threats to & chances of the main Czech religious society have been dramatically altered since the revolution in 1989.