Religion in Czechoslovakia

At the beginning of the Communist era, Czechoslovakia had a varied religious tradition, with Roman Catholicism as the dominant faith alongside Protestant, Orthodox, Jewish, and Uniate communities. The communist regime sought to suppress religion, promoting "scientific atheism" through policies that restricted clergy, closed monasteries, and controlled religious education. The 1950s saw mass arrests of clergy and the forced suppression of the Greek Catholic Church in favour of Orthodoxy.

Despite these efforts, religious belief, particularly in Slovakia, persisted. The 1968 reforms briefly eased restrictions, but normalisation in the 1970s brought renewed persecution, targeting Catholic and Uniate communities while favouring state-controlled churches. By the 1980s, the state maintained strict control over religious practice, yet underground movements and youth interest in religion grew.