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Published by
Zenit.org,
July 3, 2004
Religious Freedom in Europe
Excerpts From a 2004 Report
ROME, JULY 3, 2004 (Zenit.org).- Here is an
excerpt from a summary of the recently released
"Report 2004 on Religious Freedom" published by
Aid to the Church in Need. This excerpt focuses on
Europe.
* * *
Albania
After decades of oppressive Communist atheism,
freedom of worship in Albania is basically
respected by those in power, thanks to the new
constitution. But secularization remains
widespread.
Recent data provided by the state Committee for
Cults counts 28 active Muslim groups, some
foreign, while there are 42 Christian or
Christian-related associations, including a number
of Mormon missions, to which one must add the
Jehovah's Witnesses and followers of Baha'i.
Relations between the various communities are
excellent and no religious denomination has
special status. However, the three large religious
groups -- Muslim, Orthodox and Catholic -- are
recognized as having legal status.
Belarus
The authoritarian regime led by President
Alexander Lukashenko has introduced a series of
legislative and bureaucratic obstacles rendering
religious activity legitimate, but effectively
impossible to put into practice for many minority
religious communities.
The problems induced a delegation of the American
Commission for International Freedom of Worship to
visit the country to assess the situation.
In a report published in May 2003, members of the
delegation said that "freedom of worship is
extremely restricted in Belarus." They cited the
prohibition against non-registered communities
meeting in the same home, and the refusal of
government permission to build, buy or rent
locations for religious activities.
In spite of the strongly secular character of
state institutions, the Orthodox Church enjoys a
privileged status compared to other religious
groups. Government officials consider such a
status fundamental for achieving its aims of
closer relations with Russia.
Access to various state sectors is currently
barred for other religions, including those
acknowledged as traditional religions by a 2002
bill, such as Catholicism, Islamism, Judaism and
Lutheranism. The country is still greatly
influenced by the atheist ideology of the Soviet
period.
Bulgaria
A December 2002 law on religions acknowledged a
number of privileges for the Orthodox Church,
whose followers represent the majority of the
almost 8 million inhabitants.
According to a new law, all religious communities,
with the exception of the Orthodox, are legally
obliged to register with the Municipal Court in
Sofia to be recognized by the state and be
permitted to publicly profess their faith.
This law prompted protests from various religious
communities, in particular, the Muslims. In 2003,
relations between the Bulgarian Orthodox Church
and the Catholic Church seem to have improved.
Croatia
A proposal to introduce yoga lessons in schools
fell through, after a strong reaction from the
Catholic Church. The Church warned that yoga would
have been the first step in introducing young
people to Hindu religious elements.
France
The prohibition against use of religious symbols
in schools arose within a cultural context to
defend secularism, a constitutive principle of the
Republic after 1789.
The Catholic Church opposed the prohibition. The
archbishop of Paris, Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger,
warned the Stasi Commission against touching the
fragile balance maintained by France since the
1905 laws on church-state separation.
Germany
The Catholic bishops' conference published a
278-page document concerning freedom of worship
and, in particular, relations between Christians
and Muslims.
The document intends to encourage in Catholics a
greater awareness of their own identity, and to
bear witness to their own faith. More than 3
million Muslims now live in Germany; of these,
800,000 are under age 18.
The document lists the problems deriving from
coexistence, especially vis-ΰ-vis state law and
Islamic law. Problems related to the opening of
mosques are discussed, as well as those concerning
food, the family, burials and the role of the
woman within the family.
Italy
Procedures for the approval of a measure on
freedom of worship are still pending, in part
because of opposition from the Northern League.
This political party fears that the bill, by
giving state recognition to Islam, might encourage
the spread of terrorist movements inspired by
radical Islam, a concern shared by much of the
population.
Last October, in Ofena, in the province of Aquila,
a Muslim Italian citizen, Adel Smith, requested
the removal of the crucifix from the primary
school attended by his children. A judge from the
court in the Abruzzo capital ordered that this
should be done. Later, this injunction was
suspended. The case inflamed public opinion and
gave rise to demonstrations in defense of the
Italian Catholic identity.
The case came to nothing. Yet, the problem remains
of how to cope with a continuously changing social
and cultural scene following the immigration of
people from a culture and religion very different
from that of most Italians.
Macedonia
Politically influenced ethnic tension is still
present, a legacy of the civil war. The Macedonian
Orthodox Church has declared it is autonomous from
the Serbian church and for years has been
requesting recognition as a community that is
autonomous from the other Orthodox Churches.
Czech Republic
Last May 21 the Parliament failed to ratify the
agreement between the country and the Holy See
signed in July 2002. The 110 representatives out
of 177 who voted against the agreement were
members of the Communist Party, re-formed after
the fall of the regime.
Russia
Through 2003 and early 2004, there has been a
reasonable improvement in respecting freedom of
worship. A superficial observer might think that
the patriarch's strong influence on the state's
highest authorities could cause problems for
minority religious groups. In fact, it is the
presidential administration that tries to use the
religious instrument.
Many observers hold that, under Vladimir Putin's
administration, systematic changes have appeared
in the attitude to Orthodoxy. One sees the attempt
to involve the Orthodox Church in important
political projects, such as the outreach to
Russian Orthodox who have emigrated to the United
States, and the process of rapprochement with
Ukraine.
In the promotion of dialogue between the Holy See
and the Moscow Patriarchate, progress is slim. Yet
during the past year a number of visits --
including one in February by Cardinal Walter
Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for
the Unity of Christians -- have helped to
re-establish dialogue.
The cardinal's visit was the first made by a high
representative of the Catholic Church in four
years. During his visit, an agreement was reached
for exchanges between theological academies and
other Orthodox and Catholic cultural and
educational institutions.
None of the five Catholic priests expelled from
Russia in 2002 have been allowed to return to the
country. Yet, a number of other priests have been
permitted to enter the country to meet the needs
of the Catholic community present in Russia.
Slovakia
Current legislation is based on the Concordat
between the Holy See and the state dated December
2000, and an agreement signed in April 2002
between the state and the minority churches,
establishing the independence and freedom of
_expression for the communities and state
financial support for their activities.
The agreement signed by President Rudolf Schuster
and Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda has been
defined by the Lutheran Slovakian theologian Igor
Kiss as a historic event that encourages a better
"ecumenical coexistence" among churches.
Spain
The teaching of the Catholic religion in state
schools was expected to change following the
decree passed in June 2003 by the Aznar
government. Students would have been able to
choose between lessons on the Catholic religion
and "non-confessional" courses on the history of
religions taught by history and philosophy
professors chosen by the state. This reform
resulted in fierce protests from the left-wing
opposition. After the recent electoral results,
the new Rodrνguez Zapatero government has blocked
the educational reform.
Sweden
The Stockholm Diocese celebrated its 50th
anniversary last October. The king of Sweden
attended Mass celebrated by the papal delegate,
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor of Westminster.
This event indicates greater acceptance of the
presence of the Catholic Church in a country whose
Constitution still requires that the king be a
Lutheran. Since January 2000 a new law has
moderated the link between the Lutheran church and
the state.
Turkey
In 2003 the government approved a series of
changes addressed at strengthening the respect of
human rights and personal freedom.
These changes envisage greater freedom for
religious bodies and foreign associations,
especially from non-Muslims. One consequence of
this lessened tension is the formal authorization
to reopen the Greek-Orthodox seminary in Halki,
near Istanbul. The seminary had been closed in
1971.
The government must still grapple with numerous
and complicated steps, however. The secular
Constitution, inherited from the 1920s, requires
institutions to maintain detached from religion.
Meanwhile, moderate Muslims are aiming for more
clout for the majority Islamic community, which
was long excluded from the management of power.
The Catholic Church suffers restrictions in her
evangelization activities. Italian Capuchin Father
Roberto Ferrari, a longtime missionary in Turkey,
was investigated by the authorities. They
confiscated his passport and prevented him from
returning home after having baptized a 26-year-old
man.
Ukraine
The Ukrainian Catholic Church has told Moscow
Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II that it has no
intention of trying "to conquer" the eastern part
of Ukraine. Church spokesman Father Ihor Yatsiv
said: "The return of Byzantine Catholicism to the
eastern part of Ukraine is not at all the
Vatican's idea, but a process that began many
generations ago and arising from the Ukrainian
Greek-Catholics' desire to reach Kiev, the centre
of the country." The ecumenical patriarch of
Constantinople, Bartholomew I, asked John Paul II
not to proceed in setting up a Greek-Catholic
patriarchate in Kiev, on pain of disrupting
ecumenical relations.
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