Liechtenstein is a small Alpine principality between Switzerland and Austria, ruled by the House of Liechtenstein since the principality was created within the Holy Roman Empire in 1719 and reigning today under Prince Hans-Adam II, who transferred day-to-day authority to his son Alois in 2004 while retaining the throne. The population is predominantly Roman Catholic, about three in four residents, reflecting the territory's long history inside Catholic Habsburg and South German lands, with a Protestant minority and, among the country's many foreign workers who commute in from Switzerland and Austria, a growing Muslim community drawn largely from the former Yugoslavia and Turkey. The constitution names Roman Catholicism the state church, entitled to the state's protection so long as it does not disturb public order, while separately guaranteeing every resident the right to profess their own religious convictions and to form religious communities of their own. A 2012 law regulating the recognition of religious communities beyond the Catholic Church created a formal path for other faiths, including the country's Muslim community, to gain legal standing, though the Catholic Church retains privileges under the constitution that no other community holds. The prince's family remains devoutly Catholic, and the principality's national days and public ceremonies still carry the religious character of a small European monarchy that never underwent the disestablishment its larger neighbors did.
Facts
Law and State
Establishment Status State Funding MechanismBy law the state pays the Roman Catholic Church, the constitutionally named state church, 300,000 Swiss francs annually, and individual municipalities provide additional funds that vary by municipality, chiefly for the upkeep of church buildings and grounds. Parish priests are municipal employees. No other religious community receives comparable direct funding. 3 Registration or Recognition RegimeA 2012 law on the recognition of religious communities created a formal legal-personality track for faiths other than the established Catholic Church, allowing groups such as the country's Muslim community to seek recognition and standing they had previously lacked. 3 Concordat BasisLiechtenstein has no concordat with the Holy See. Article 37 of its constitution names the Roman Catholic Church the national church, entitled to the state's full protection, and the arrangement has stayed that way despite a real attempt to change it: legislation passed in 2012 aimed at loosening the state church system and, alongside it, clearing the way for a genuine concordat between the Catholic Church and the Holy See, but the reform never entered into force after two of the country's eleven municipalities could not reach agreement with the Archdiocese of Vaduz over property rights. The prime minister has since signaled intent to revisit religious financing and the relationship generally, but no concordat exists today. 4 Government
Government Typeparliamentary constitutional monarchy 2 Sovereignty StatusSovereign UN member state 2 Established Year Government type (class) Demographics
Religious CompositionAbout 76 per cent Christian, mostly Roman Catholic with a Protestant minority, roughly 6 per cent Muslim, and the remainder unaffiliated or of other faiths (Pew Research Center, Religious Composition of the World, 2010-2020). 1 Status
Legal StatusThe constitution names the Roman Catholic Church the state church, entitled to the state's full protection so long as public order is not disturbed, while guaranteeing every resident freedom of conscience and the right to form other religious communities. 3 Classification
State Funding of ReligionOfficial State Religion 5 Location
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Religion and History in Liechtenstein
This article records tradition as it has been passed down and reported. Its sources are not yet part of the atlas's verified catalogue.
Liechtenstein is a small Alpine principality between Switzerland and Austria, ruled by the House of Liechtenstein since the principality was created within the Holy Roman Empire in 1719 and reigning today under Prince Hans-Adam II, who transferred day-to-day authority to his son Alois in 2004 while retaining the throne. The population is predominantly Roman Catholic, about three in four residents, reflecting the territory's long history inside Catholic Habsburg and South German lands, with a Protestant minority and, among the country's many foreign workers who commute in from Switzerland and Austria, a growing Muslim community drawn largely from the former Yugoslavia and Turkey.
The prince's family remains devoutly Catholic, and the principality's national days and public ceremonies still carry the religious character of a small European monarchy that never underwent the disestablishment its larger neighbors did, an unbroken continuity Liechtenstein shares with almost no other state in Western Europe.
An Established Church and a Reform That Failed in Liechtenstein
This article records tradition as it has been passed down and reported. Its sources are not yet part of the atlas's verified catalogue.
Article 37 of Liechtenstein's constitution names the Roman Catholic Church the national church, entitled to the state's full protection, and by law the state pays it 300,000 Swiss francs annually with individual municipalities providing additional funds; parish priests are municipal employees, and no other religious community receives comparable direct funding. Legislation passed in 2012 aimed at loosening the state church system and clearing the way for a genuine concordat between the Catholic Church and the Holy See, the kind of formal bilateral treaty several neighboring states already hold.
That reform never entered into force after two of the country's eleven municipalities could not reach agreement with the Archdiocese of Vaduz over property rights, so Liechtenstein remains one of the last places in Western Europe with a constitutionally established church and no concordat at all, a reform stalled not by political opposition but by a property dispute between two towns and their own archdiocese.
Connections
Ancient and Historical Regions
Source United Nations Statistics Division: UN M49 Standard country or area codes for statistical use: geographic regions
Associated With
This source names Liechtenstein directly: "US State Department's 2021 report on Liechtenstein, read for its account of the Roman Catholic Church's constitutional status as national church and the failed 2012 attempt to change that..."
Source 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom: LiechtensteinUnited States Department of State, Office of International Religious Freedom
Sources
1. Religious Composition of the World, 2010-2020
2. The World Factbook (Central Intelligence Agency)
3. International Religious Freedom Report
United States Department of State, Office of International Religious Freedom, US Department of State, 2023View the Source 4. 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom: Liechtenstein
United States Department of State, Office of International Religious Freedom, US Department of StateView the Source 5. The Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd edition
Oxford University Press, Oxford University Press- demonym / adjectival form
Entity description, state-funding
The constitution names Roman Catholicism the state church, entitled to the state's protection so long as it does not disturb public order
View the Source United Nations Statistics Division: UN M49 Standard country or area codes for statistical use: geographic regions
United Nations Statistics DivisionAncient and Historical Regions: Western Europe, Geographic regions table, Western EuropeQuote, Ancient and Historical Regions: Western Europe, Geographic regions table, Western Europe
Western Europe 155 Austria 040 AUT Belgium 056 BEL France 250 FRA Germany 276 DEU Liechtenstein 438 LIE Luxembourg 442 LUX Monaco 492 MCO Netherlands (Kingdom of the) 528 NLD Switzerland 756 CHE
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