 | ||
Christianity in Azerbaijan is a minority religion. Christians who estimated between 280,000-450,000 (3.1%-4.8%) are mostly Russian and Georgian Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic (almost all Armenians live in the break-away region of Nagorno-Karabakh). There is also a small ethnic Azerbaijani Protestant Christian community most of them came from Muslim backgrounds.
Denominations
There are eleven Molokan communities. The Molokans are a Christian minority which, much like Protestants in Western Europe, center their beliefs on the Bible and reject church hierarchy. 2.5% of the population (1998) belong to the Russian Orthodox Church (1998). The Russian Orthodox Church has the Eparchy of Baku and the Caspian region with a seat in Azerbaijan. Among the famous landmark Russian churches are Church of Michael Archangel, Holy Myrrhbearers Cathedral and Alexander Nevsky Cathedral destroyed by the communists at the beginning of the 20th century.
There is only one Roman Catholic congregation. A Roman Catholic church in Baku was opened in 2007.
The Albanian-Udi Church is of the Udi people minority in Azerbaijan.
There is a German Lutheran community, likely to number less than 7,000 Protestants. There is also a Georgian Orthodox community and churches.
The Armenian Apostolic Church currently has no community outside the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Before the outbreak of the war, Armenians formed the largest Christian population. The Armenian churches in Azerbaijan remain closed, because of the large outmigration of Armenians and fear of Azerbaijani attacks. During the Nagorno-Karabakh War, despite the constitutional guarantees against religious discrimination, numerous acts of vandalism against the Armenian Apostolic Church have been reported throughout Azerbaijan. At the height of atrocities against the Armenian minorities in Baku in 1990, the Armenian Church of St. Gregory Illuminator in Baku was set on fire, but was restored in 2004 and is not used anymore.