The constitution provides for equality of rights regardless of religion and freedom of conscience, religion, and religious expression. It prohibits incitement of religious hatred. According to the constitution, religious groups are equal under the law and free to publicly conduct religious services and open and manage schools and charitable organizations under the protection and assistance of the state.
The Catholic Church receives state financial support and other benefits established in four concordats between the government and the Holy See. These agreements allow state financing for salaries and pensions of some religious officials through government-managed pension and health funds. These agreements also stipulate state funding for religious education in public schools. The law stipulates the same rights and benefits for other registered religious groups as those specified for the Catholic Church in the concordats.
The law defines the legal position of religious groups and determines eligibility for government funding and tax benefits. To obtain status as a religious community, a religious group must have at least 500 members and be registered as an organization for at least five years. The state recognizes marriages conducted by registered religious groups, eliminating the need for civil registration. To be recognized legally, marriages by non-registered religious groups require civil registration. Non-registered religious groups also cannot conduct religious education in schools or access state funds in support of religious activities.
There are 54 registered religious groups, including the Catholic Church, the SOC, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, the Christian Adventist Church, the Church of Christ, the Church of God, the Croatian Old Catholic Church, the Evangelical Church, the Macedonian Orthodox Church, the Pentecostal Church, the Reformed Christian Church, the Union of Baptist Churches, the Seventh-day Adventist Reform Movement, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Union of Pentecostal Churches of Christ, the Coordination of Jewish Communities in Croatia (an umbrella group of nine distinct Jewish communities), the Jewish Community of Virovitica, Bet Israel (a Jewish group), and the Islamic Community of Croatia.
The government requires religious education be offered in public schools, although attendance is optional. Catholic catechism is the predominant religious text used. Nineteen additional religious groups offer religious education in schools in which there are seven or more students of a given faith, including the Church of the Full Gospel, the Word of Life Alliance of Churches, and the Protestant Reformed Christian Church, which were recognized in 2014. Eligible religious groups provide the instructors and the state pays their salaries. Students may opt out of religious education if they wish, without providing specific grounds.
The law currently does not allow individuals whose property was confiscated during the Holocaust era to seek compensation in court if those individuals subsequently obtained another nationality. This affects Jewish property holders disproportionately.