Religion
When considering the people of the Prešov region in terms of their religious denomination, we see that the majority (67%) are Roman Catholic. The next largest group (16%) is made up of Greek Catholics, followed by Lutherans (5%) and members of the Russian Orthodox Church (4%).
The Prešov region is part of Slovak Roman Catholic Church’s Eastern Province and comes under the Košice Archdiocese and Spiš Diocese. The Košice Archdiocese was established in 1804 and now administers ecclesiastical matters in Upper and Lower Šariš as well as in Upper Zemplín.
The Spiš Diocese was founded in 1776 and is based in Spišská Kapitula, a UNESCO Cultural Heritage site home to St. Martin’s Cathedral. The diocese administers those parts of Spiš which are in the Prešov region.
The most famous place of pilgrimage in Slovakia, both at home and abroad, is Levoča. The tradition of worshipping the Marian statues here dates back to the 14th century and every year approximately half a million pilgrims ascend the Marian Hill above the town. The district of Prešov is one of the five most Catholic districts in the whole of Slovakia, while five of the country’s nine villages with a 100% Roman Catholic population are located in the region.
The Prešov Greek Catholic Archbishopric (or Eparchy), founded in 1818, is based in Prešov, where the Cathedral Church of John the Baptist can be seen. The Greek Catholic Church’s most important place of pilgrimage is Ľutina, where the tradition of pilgrimages dates back to 1851. Other places of pilgrimage for local Greek Catholics are Litmanová, Krásny Brod, Buková Hôrka, Šašová, Čirč and Rafajovce. Percentually there are more Greek Catholics in the Prešov region than anywhere else in Slovakia, their number increasing the further north-east one goes.
In terms of Lutheran Church administration, the Prešov region falls under its Eastern District and is covered by the Tatran and the Šariš–Zemplín Seniorates, with the seat of the district bishop in Prešov. The largest number of Lutherans in the region can be found in the western Spiš and central Potoplie areas.
In terms of the Russian Orthodox Church’s administration, the Prešov region comes under the Prešov Eparchy. The main administrative centre of the Orthodox Church in Slovakia is Prešov, where the archbishop lives and the eparchial council office and Cathedral Church of St. Alexander Nevsky are both located. As with the Greek Catholic Church, the Russian Orthodox Church has its highest number of members in Slovakia here in the Prešov region, with especially high numbers in the northern and north-eastern parts of the region.
As well as these main denominations, there are many other Christian churches active in the Prešov region. These include the Christian Reformed Church, the Methodist Church, the Baptist Church, the Brethren Church, the Church of Seventh-Day Adventists, the Apostolic Church in Slovakia, the Congregational Church in Slovakia, the Czechoslovak Hussite Church, the Old Catholic Church, the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Jewish religious community.
