"The political engagement of clerics, even via a third person, is not appropriate. A priest's duty is to be a father towards all who believe in God, not to be a leader of those who publicly sympathize with a political party. If there is a perception in society that a priest is in control of a political party, even in the background, it is imperative that he cease all such activities without delay," says an official statement published by the Bishop's Conference of Slovakia.
Those who published the statement, Bratislava metropolitan bishop Stanislav Zvolenský and Spiš bishop Štefan Sečka, are responding to recent events on the Slovak political scene. In the context of the upcoming election, the Slovak far-right People's Party-Our Slovakia has announced its cooperation with several parties, among which is the party Christian Democracy-Life and Prosperity, whose leader is Štefan Kuffa, brother of the controversial priest Marián Kuffa.
Marián Kuffa responded to the statement by saying that he hasn't established any political party, nor has he been a leader or member of any political party. The Christian Democracy-Life and Prosperity party, however, openly avows their cooperation with Kuffa.
"In the context of current circumstances, this statement concerns Father Marián Kuffa, but in general terms it concerns any cleric who would be engaged in political activities or the public promotion of any political party," concludes the statement, explicitly pointing to Marián Kuffa's activities and implicitly appealing to other clerics who might consider following Kuffa's example.
