BRATISLAVA, August 19, (WEBNOVINY) — The Roman-Catholic Church appears dissatisfied with the level of discussion about potential changes in financing of churches in Slovakia. It issued a statement through the Conference of Slovak Bishops (KBS), in which it expresses regret that the Minister of Culture, Daniel Krajcer, published certain thoughts on the topic of church financing without previous consultation with them. „The KBS has not nominated an official team yet; however, this step is in preparation. The KBS will do so through official channels which, we believe, will allow signing an agreement between the Slovak Republic and the Holy See on financing,“ the spokesman for KBS, Jozef Kovacik, told SITA news agency on Thursday.
Any possible model of church financing requires the approval of the people within the society, according to the Culture Minister Daniel Krajcer. „Any solution can be provided only after a discussion with churches. This must lead to a broader agreement. We will certainly not solve this situation by adopting a comprehensive legislation that imposes churches to do something. It will be a debate in the whole society. Not just the executive branch and registered churches. This is such a fundamental change in the status of churches in society that everyone needs to comments on it,“ Krajcer told reporters on Wednesday.
The SaS party went into the election with the theme of changing the existing system of church financing. All four center-right coalition parties agreed to initiate a discussions on a possible financial separation of church and state. The strongest one, the Roman-Catholic Church, claims it does not resist the change. At present, the state contributes to the salaries of clergymen.
SITA