Religion-State Relations in Europe

Abstract Europe is often taken to represent a global exception in matters of religion and secularity and some argue that much of the reason for this lies in the way religion-state relations are arranged. This chapter assesses these and related claims while summarily tracing the character, development, and impact of different relationship patterns in Europe as both ‘religion’ and ‘state’ have undergone massive change over the last 500 years. None of the fifty-odd current states of Europe meet any strict standard of religion–state separation; it can be argued nonetheless that the emergent and identifiable common European model is largely consistent with liberal egalitarian values. Key concepts are introduced: secular state, confessional state, religious state, religious establishment, and separationism.