An important aspect of religious accommodation in the public sphere is the willingness or otherwise of the State to accommodate religious groups, as well as individuals professing religious beliefs. The accommodation of religion in the public sphere can depend upon law and policy makers choosing to recognise certain beliefs and practices as religious beliefs and practices and, in certain contexts, this recognition is contingent upon religious groups acquiring legal personality. Achieving this recognition has proved to be problematic for minority religious groups, especially in Eastern European jurisdictions. This paper seeks to consider State responses to regulating minority religions, including new religious movements, in Eastern Europe by reference to a number of recent cases before the European Court of Human Rights. It will pay particular attention to the extent to which approaches to the acquisition of legal personality for religious groups may restrict or undermine religious freedom and accommodation.

The article contributes to the theoretical and empirical discussions about the social exclusion of religious minorities in contemporary Lithuania. It is based on the data of the empirical qualitative research – focus group and semi-structured interviews with members of religious minorities in Lithuania. The theoretical part of the article focuses on the relationship between religion and social exclusion and the features of its manifestation; it discusses Pierre Bourdieu and Antonio Gramsci’s theoretical insights. The analysis of empirical data conducted according to the three levels of societal life – macro, meso and micro – that were reflected in the respondents’ narratives demonstrated that social exclusion of religious minorities is manifested at every level of societal life: religious communities and their members are stigmatized and marginalized and their activities in the public sphere are restricted.