Culture Minister Daniel Krajcer (Freedom and Solidarity (SaS)) on Thursday, February 24, met representatives of churches and religious communities in order to open a discussion on the funding of religion in Slovakia. A date for completing the discussions hasn't been set and the dialogue will be led on a nationwide level.
Krajcer said, as quoted by the TASR newswire, that the current form of funding is carried out on the basis of a law dating back to 1949, which he described as a communist norm. He said that the situation in society has meanwhile moved forward significantly and suitable solutions based on dialogue should be sought. Religious representatives agreed to create an expert commission to prepare materials and a platform for dialogue.
The chairman of the Catholic Conference of Slovak Bishops (KBS), Stanislav Zvolenský, opposed the idea of introducing a compulsory church tax. The general bishop of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession (ECAV), Miloš Klátik, said he was not against discussing the topic at the level of an expert group, as this was not a political issue. According to him, it is also necessary to pay attention to addressing some past grievances. The honorary chairman of the Central Union of Jewish Religious Communities, Pavel Traubner, also welcomed the discussion.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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