Culture Minister Marek Madaric told TASR on Wednesday that he isn't exerting any pressure on Churches and religious societies to submit documentation on their finances and property, but is requesting information so that the ministry can use it to formulate its next course of action when determining a functional and fairer pattern for funding the Churches.
A panel of experts that acts as an advisory body to the ministry on the issue is discussing three scenarios for funding the Churches. Madaric expects representatives of Churches and religious societies to comment on the proposals at a session of the panel this autumn so that their position will be clear. "There's the introduction of assigning taxes, but it should be noted that the Churches have rejected this before. Then there's the introduction of payments for Churches based on the number of members, while the third option is the preservation of the system of direct support from the state budget, which is in fact in effect now”, said the minister. Madaric stressed that it's impossible to separate the state and the Churches, as a treaty with the Vatican that was signed during the first government of Mikulas Dzurinda (1998-2002) is still in effect. According to opposition MP Daniel Krajcer, the governing SMER-SD does not want any changes in the state financing of churches in Slovakia. A recent survey by the Slovak Academy of Sciences' Sociological Institute indicates that 31.4 percent of people in Slovakia advocate total separation, while 26.2 percent want the state to support Churches financially only in certain areas of public interest. A minority is in favour of retaining the status quo. Currently the state subsidises, via the Culture Ministry, the salaries and levies of the clergy and the running costs of headquarters and retirement homes for priests.
