wfn.org | Slovak Government Promises Equal Treatment of All Religious Groups

[BeckettJ@gc.adventist.org]

ANN Bulletin
Adventist News Network
Seventh-day Adventist Church World Headquarters
December 5, 2000
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Slovak Government Promises Equal Treatment of All Religious Groups
Bratislava, Slovakia ... [ATS/ANN] 

Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders in Slovakia have welcomed an amendment
to the country's religious liberty law that acknowledges the equality of all
churches. 
 
"We welcome this provision, because it reflects our position on the question
of religious freedom," says Emanuel Duda, president of the Adventist Church
in  Slovakia.  "It is praiseworthy that the state does not evaluate
religions according to the number of its adherents, but measures all with
the same measuring  stick."

The issue of equality of religious groups in Slovakia also came to the floor
last month when the Slovak government signed a special agreement, or
concordant,  with the Vatican, securing the Roman Catholic Church special
rights in the country. "In the original agreement proposed, there were some
points that were  unacceptable for non-Catholic churches," says Duda.
"However, the new version of the agreement does not contain these points."

Under the recently passed amendment to the religious liberty law, other
churches can negotiate similar agreements, reports Duda, who adds that the
Adventist  Church is preparing a proposal.  If the proposal is accepted,
Slovakia will be the third European country, after Poland and Italy, where
such an agreement  has been reached. [Bedrich Jetelina/ATS (Czech Adventist
Press Service)/ANN]
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