The Slovak government continued its preparation of a treaty with the Vatican to give a framework to the participation of the Slovak Church in public issues last week.
The agreement also determines relations between the state and the Catholic Church, and will probably outline a system for financing the Catholic Church in Slovakia.
The joint committee to prepare the treaty with the Vatican includes Apostle Nuncio Luigi Dossena, Conference of Slovak Bishops chairman Rudolf Baláž, and Cardinal Jan Chriszostom Korec.
The Vatican is currently studying the draft treaty. The Slovak side expects the treaty to be signed some time in 1999. Preparations on the basic treaty between the Slovak Republic and the Holy See started in the middle of 1997.
