As per the 2001 census, 79% of Lithuanians belonged to the Roman Catholic Church. The Church has been the majority denomination since the Christianisation of Lithuania at the end of the 14th century. Some priests actively led the resistance against the Communist regime (symbolised by the Hill of Crosses).
In the first half of the 20th century, the Lutheran Protestant church had around 200,000 members, 9% of the total population, but it has declined since 1945. Small Protestant communities are dispersed throughout the northern and western parts of the country. Believers and clergy suffered greatly during the Soviet occupation, with many killed, tortured or deported to Siberia. Various Protestant churches have established missions in Lithuania since 1990. 4.9% are Orthodox (mainly among the Russian minority), 1.9% are Protestant and 9.5% have no religion.
Lithuania was historically home to a significant Jewish community and was an important center of Jewish scholarship and culture from the 18th century, until the community, numbering about 160,000 before World War II, was almost entirely annihilated during the Holocaust. The community numbered about 3,400 at the end of 2010. The census 2001 main results on religion are:
• Roman Catholic – 79.0% (2.752 million)
• Orthodox – 4.1% (142,000)
• Orthodox (Old Believers) – 0.8% (27,100)
• Evangelical Lutherans – 0.6% (19,600)
• Other religions – 0.3% (11 thousand.)
• Reformed Church – 0.2% (7,100)
• Jehovah's Witnesses – 0.1% (3,500)
• Judaism – 0.1% (3,400)
• Sunni Muslim – 0.1% (2,900)
• Charismatics – 0.06% (2,200)
• Pentecostalism – 0.04% (1,300)
• Old Baltic
