Religious life of refugees in Germany - offline and online , Date: 2025.04.08, format: Report, area: Authority

How important is their faith to refugees, which religions do they belong to and to what extent do they use religious online services? The brief analysis "Religious affiliation and everyday religious practice among refugees" by the BAMF Research Centre (BAMF-FZ) examines these and other questions based on data from the IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees from the year 2021.

Portrait of a woman Dr. Amrei Maddox Source: @ BAMF

Around 70 percent of refugees are Muslim, a further 16 percent Christian. "Although, in both groups, most are religious and their faith is generally important for their well-being, Muslim refugees attend religious events significantly less frequently than Christian refugees", says Dr Amrei Maddox, researcher at the BAMF-FZ. "There can be many reasons for this. Mosque attendance is, for example, only seen as obligatory for men. Moreover, existing events can also be seen as unsuitable by refugees, for example due to many Islamic communities' historically grown connection to their countries of origin, their location, or the language that is predominantly spoken there. This also shows in our analyses", the author explains further. Besides such a perceived lack of suitable events, Muslim refugees also more frequently cite scheduling conflicts as an obstacle for visiting religious events than Christian refugees.

The present data additionally illustrate that differences by religious affiliation exist in the motives for attending religious events: Muslims particularly frequently cited religious duty as the reason for participating in religious events. While this is often also important to members of religions other than Islam or Christianity, especially for Christians the desire to learn more about their own faith and to gain strength and confidence through attending play a dominant role. Members of other religions frequently participate out of tradition.

Digital media are playing an increasingly important role in religious life

As in most other areas, the digital space is playing a more and more significant role in religious life. This has been intensified by the restrictions put on communal religious practice in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Around one in five refugees utilise digital religious contents at least once a month. This includes online broadcasts of worship services, virtual religious instruction and other online courses, as well as office hours, pastoral care or counselling via video or live chat. In addition to religious institutions and communities, also religious influencers and clergy are present online, for example on social media and platforms such as YouTube.

Accordingly, the use cases of the internet and social media for religious purposes are likewise very heterogeneous. Refugees most frequently go online in this context to catch up on the latest news from their religious community, to search for specific religious information, or to follow sermons and services online. Accessing digital religious contents thereby seem to mainly serve as an addition to other religious practices and less as a replacement for offline events.

Background

The BAMF brief analysis "Religious affiliation and everyday religious practice among refugees" was written as part of the project "Analyses of Religion in the Migration Context" (AReMi). Within the project various aspects of religion, religiosity, and everyday religious practice and their significance for the social participation of immigrants and their descendants born in Germany are examined empirically.


Religious affiliation and everyday religious practice among refugees format: brief analysis, This download is available in other languages, too.

The BAMF Brief Analysis 1|2025 provides an overview of the religious affiliation, religiosity, and everyday religious practices of refugees who came to Germany between 2013 and 2019.