Access the Register of Religious Communities
Matters concerning religious communities in the Republic of Croatia is regulated by the Act on the Legal Status of Religious Communities.
Religious communities are registered in the Register of Religious Communities, maintained by the Ministry of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation.
The existing religious communities i.e. religious communities which acted as legal persons in the Republic of Croatia on the date of entry into force of the above Act were entered in the Register on the basis of submitted registration forms.
Newly established religious communities i.e. the communities of believers which did not act as religious communities until entry into force of the Act on the Legal Status of Religious Communities or those established thereafter are entered in the Register upon the submission of an application for registration. Applications can be submitted by the communities of believers which were registered in the Register of Associations as associations with legal personality for a minimum of five years prior to the date of submission.
A newly established religious community must enclose the following documents with the application form for registration:
- a document proving that the religious community has at least 500 followers,
- a document showing the content and manner of practicing religion and the performance of religious rites, the territory and manner of functioning of the religious community,
- a document proving that the newly established religious community has been registered in the Register of Associations as a community of believers for a minimum of five years prior to the submission of the application.
If the newly established religious community is part of a religious community seated abroad under the law of that religious community, the application for registration must also be accompanied by a letter of consent of the competent central body of the foreign religious community.
Organisational forms of religious communities and unions of religious communities can also be entered in the Register.
Upon application for registration, the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration issues a decision against which an administrative dispute may be initiated.
