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Chmel: Generally, I Support Separation of Church and State
Thursday 19 August 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, August 19 (TASR) - Deputy Premier for Minorities Rudolf Chmel (Most-Hid) has said that he generally supports the separation of Church and State, but concedes that this is unlikely to take place for some time.
"There's a long way to go until this happens," he admitted at a press conference in Bratislava, adding that neither his party, nor the governing Coalition have dealt with this topic.
According to him, the Church is currently paid a rather large share of the Culture Ministry's budget. He views the separation of the financial package allocated to the Churches and the ministry's actual budget as the best solution.
Culture and Tourism Minister Daniel Krajcer (Freedom and Solidarity/SaS) said that no proposal dealing with separation of Church and State has been submitted so far. He noted that this is a very complex process, which isn't a question of several months, as it concerns a core change in Church financing. He pointed to the Government Manifesto, which states that the Government plans to launch a society-wide discussion of this topic. He said that any kind of decision can only be made after consultation with the Churches that results in an agreement. "We won't resolve it in a way that involves the Government adopting extensive legislative and ordering the Churches to do something," said Krajcer.
The Slovak Bishops Conference (KBS) has expressed regret that Krajcer has pondered the financing of the Churches out loud without consulting them first. KBS hasn't appointed an official commission to deal with this issue yet, but is preparing to do so within a month, said KBS spokesman Jozef Kovacik.
A total of €37.19 million was allocated from the state budget to Churches and religious associations in 2009.
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