State religion

==Types==
The degree and nature of state backing for denomination or creed designated as a state religion can vary. It can range from mere endorsement (with or without financial support) with [[freedom of religion|freedom for other faiths to practice]], to prohibiting any competing religious body from operating and to persecuting the followers of other sects.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shiffrin |first1=Steven H. |title=The Religious Left and Church-State Relations |date=26 August 2012 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-3383-2 |language=en |pages=160–161}}</ref> In Europe, competition between [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] and [[Protestantism|Protestant]] denominations for state sponsorship in the 16th century evolved the principle ''[[Cuius regio, eius religio]]'' (states follow the religion of the ruler) embodied in the text of the treaty that marked the [[Peace of Augsburg]] in 1555. In [[England]], [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] broke with Rome in 1534, being declared the [[Supreme Head of the Church of England]],{{efn|The headship was administrative and jurisdictional but did not include the ''potestas ordinis'' (the right to preach, ordain, administer the sacraments and rites of the Church which were reserved to the clergy).<ref>Bray, Gerald. ''Documents of the English Reformation'' James Clarke & Cº (1994), p. 114</ref>}} the official religion of England continued to be "Catholicism without the Pope" until after his death in 1547.<ref>Neill, Stephen. ''Anglicanism'' Penguin (1960), p. 61</ref>

In some cases, an administrative region may sponsor and fund a set of religious denominations; such is the case in [[Alsace-Moselle]] in [[France]] under its [[Local law in Alsace-Moselle|local law]], following the pre-1905 French concordatory legal system and patterns in [[Germany]].<ref>The concerned religious communities are the [[Diocese of Metz|dioceses of Metz]] and [[Archdiocese of Strasbourg|of Strasbourg]], the Lutheran [[EPCAAL]] and the Reformed [[EPRAL]] and the three [[Consistory (Judaism)|Israelite consistories]] in Colmar, Metz and Strasbourg.</ref>

===State churches===
[[File:Elizabeth II national mourning period - 04.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Westminster Abbey]] is [[Royal peculiar|responsible directly to the British monarch]]. The [[Church of England]] is the established church in England.]]
A state church (or "established church") is a state religion established by a state for use exclusively by that state. In the case of a ''state church'', the state has absolute control over the church, but in the case of a ''state religion'', the church is ruled by an exterior body; for example, in the case of Catholicism, the [[Holy See|Vatican]] has control over the church. As of 2024, there are only five state churches left.<ref>{{cite web |author=((The Editors of the Encyclopedia Britannica ))|title=Established church |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/established-church |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=5 January 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

===Disestablishment===
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{{Further|Secular state}}
Disestablishment is the process of repealing a church's status as an organ of the state. In a state where an established church is in place, opposition to such a move may be described as [[antidisestablishmentarianism]]. This word is, however, most usually associated with the debate on the position of the Anglican churches in the [[British Isles]]: the [[Church of Ireland]] (disestablished in [[Irish Church Act 1869|1871]]), the [[Church in Wales]] (disestablished in [[Welsh Church Act 1914|1920]]), and the Church of England itself (which remains established in England).{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}