Freedom of Religion, Institution of Conscientious Objection and Political Practice in Post-Communist Slovakia1

Human Affairs ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jana Plichtová ◽  
Magda Petrjánošová
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Health Care Services ◽  
Slovak Republic ◽  
Conscientious Objection ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Free Access ◽  
Political Practice ◽  
Demographic Development ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Catholic Church

Freedom of Religion, Institution of Conscientious Objection and Political Practice in Post-Communist SlovakiaThe example of Slovakia is used to show how one of the post-socialist countries failed in fulfilling the demanding task of securing freedom of religious belief (including the right to conscientious objection) and, at the same time, securing all other human rights. An analysis of the methods used for changing the policies of pluralism and neutrality of the state into a policy of discrimination (e.g. concerning the registration duty for churches) was carried out, followed by an analysis of a mechanism used for guaranteeing freedom of conscience of the members of the Catholic Church (the so-called Vatican Treaty). The treaty violates the prohibition of discrimination against women, because it makes it more difficult for them to have access to some health care services. Our hypothesis states that the hurriedly introduced right to conscientious objection is misused in this context as a means of regulating the politics of reproduction. In general, the re-Catholisation of the Slovak Republic follows two aims—to help in the fight for votes in the elections (because 70 % of Slovaks declare their religion to be Catholic), and to improve demographic development in the Slovak Republic (declared to be catastrophic by the Catholic Church), through hindering free access to abortions.

scholarly journals Problemy wynikające z wejścia w życie ustawy RRFSR "O wolności wyznań" z dnia 25 października 1990 roku

2006 ◽  
Vol 49 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 183-209
Author(s):  
Jelena Byś
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Military Service ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Executive Power ◽  
Free Access ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Religious Media ◽  
Religious Associations ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Government

Putting into effect a new law of the RSFSR ON FREEDOM OF RELIGION of October 25, 1990 caused many problems in public life and in life of religious communities in particular. This article introduces some of them, which became a subject of discussion. They are: interreligious equality, legislative acts concerning ownership of religious associations, access of religious associations to media and alternative military service. Formally the law of the RSFSR ON FREEDOM OF RELIGION of October 25, 1990 guarantees interreligious equality but in reality this principle is not respected. It has not been put into practice on the full scale and agreement in this sphere meets many obstacles or may be even impossible. A dislike of the Russian Orthodox Church for the Catholic Church increasing with ages is difficult to change. Catholicism is treated according to 19th century classification that means as a foreign and tolerated religion. However, the effect of the executive power activity as for tax exemption of religious associations was positive. Religious associations and their enterprises got right to provide their religious activity according to their statute benefiting from tax relieves and tax exemption. The things with restitution look worse. Though the law founds a basis for quick restitution of at least a part of seized property of religious associations reality appears to be different. Recognition of the priority of the Orthodox Church by the government and local authorities entails great privileges for it at the expense of other religious associations also as for restitution of cult erections, buildings and grounds that used to be their property. Right of religious associations for free access to media and founding their own ones though is guaranteed by the law in reality also meets with many difficulties. Having given such a right authorities prevent from exercising it. It results from over commercialisation of media and general reluctance, which consists in unnecessary complicating of formalities. But in spite of the difficulties the scale of broadcasting of religious media is constantly widening. The problem of alternative military service is still open in the Russian Federation. Legacy of long-term political up bringing do not let solve an increasing amount of problems in the army. A law on alternative military service would be a wise compromise between duty and legislation. Such a law would be able to lessen the tension in society and to protect rights of young citizens.

The Right Rev. George Chamberlain Bishop of Ypres (1576–1654.)

1953 ◽  
Vol 2 (01) ◽  
pp. 84-86
Author(s):  
L. Antheunis
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
17Th Century ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Catholic Church

One of the most distinguished bishops of the Catholic church in Belgium in the 17th century was without doubt the Englishman, George Chamberlain, who occupied the see of Ypres from 1627 to 1634, the year of his death.

scholarly journals U misiji Sv. Stolice kod Ante Pavelića i Josipa Broza Tita

2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 176-200
Author(s):  
Ante Delić
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
Independent State ◽  
Holy See ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Right ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Catholic Church

The Vatican had never recognized the Independent State of Croatia (henceforth ISC) in accordance with its traditional policy of not giving recognition to the countries formed in war until hostilities cease and peace treaties come into effect. However, a few months after the declaration of the ISC, the Holy See sent an apostolic visitor to the Croatian Catholic episcopate in Zagreb, Dr. Ramiro Marcone, a monk from the Benedictine abbey in Montevergine, Italy. Marcone was accompanied by his secretary, Dr. Giuseppe Masucci, also a Benedictine monk. The two men lived in Zagreb until the end of the ISC in 1945 but also stayed for some time after that. In accordance with their duties, Marcone and Masucci were in contact with the archbishop of Zagreb, Alojzije Stepinac, on a daily basis and were thus well-informed about numerous issues of the time, especially those pertaining to the relationship between the Catholic Church and the government of ISC. The Catholic hierarchy headed by archbishop Stepinac, welcomed the proclamation of ISC and throughout the war expressed their belief that the Croatian people had the right to its own independent state. Abbot Marcone and his secretary Masucci acted in synergy with archbishop Stepinac. In accordance with his mission Marcone submitted reports to the Holy See while his secretary Masucci kept notes in his diary. One can observe Masucci's constant work on saving the persecuted, specially Jews from his diary (which has two different versions in Croatian translation). After the end of ISC, Masucci and Marcone were under strict surveillance and control of the secret service of the new communist regime which considered the Catholic Church an enemy of the state and openly persecuted it with the intention of destroying it. Abbot Marcone travelled to Rome on 10 July 1945 and the Yugoslav authorities denied him re-entry. His secretary Masucci also left Yugoslavia on 20 March 1946 after constant pressure from the new administration and was also denied re-entry.

scholarly journals Certain peculiarities of canon law of the Catholic Church on the territory of Crimea in the XIII – early XIV centuries according to the data from papal bulls

2021 ◽  
pp. 117-136
Author(s):  
Timur Guselnikov
Keyword(s):  
Social History ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Canon Law ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Legal Regime ◽  
History Of ◽  
Apostolic See ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Catholic Church

This article examines the norms of canon law, which regulated the actions of the Catholic missionaries in Crimea since the emergence of first missions in the XIII century until the creation of eparchies in the early XIV century. Comprehension of the legal framework of Catholic missions is necessary for further research of social history of the region. The bulls Cum hora undecimal alongside Vos igitur and Gratias agimus, establish preferential legal regime on private matters that differs from the Western European canon law. Each question raised in the pontifical document is compared with the canonical norms of Western Europe and isolated cases on the territory of Crimea. Although papal bulls have always been used by the researchers of medieval Crimea, the legal content of these documents was usually outside the focus of attention. The author analyzes the content of the papal bulls through the prism of canon law of the Catholic Church, theological and legal discussions of the XIII – XIV centuries. Legal regime in the missionary territory was established in form of privileges and right to dispensation. The papal bull Cum hora undecima of 1245, repeatedly has been reissued repeatedly without significant amendments, is of particular importance for the researchers . In the questions of dispensation, consecration of churches and sacred objects, and granting of indulgences, the missionaries received the authority equal to the bishops and legates of the apostolic see. The converted to Catholicism local residents assumed a derogation in terms of closely related marriages, while clerics of the Eastern churches retained their rank and the right to stay married.

scholarly journals PURGATORY: TO THE QUESTION OF GENESIS AND TRANSFORMATION (HISTORICAL AND RELIGIOUS STUDY ANALYSIS)

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-38
Author(s):  
Valerii Kuzev
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Religious Study ◽  
General Tendency ◽  
Christian Doctrine ◽  
Common Features ◽  
The Right ◽  
Theological Thought ◽  
Modern Era ◽  
Satisfaction Model ◽  
The Catholic Church

The article is devoted to some issues of the formation and transformation of the purgatory doctrine in Catholic philosophical and theological thought. Two aspects of this phenomenon are considered: the probable influence of other religions on the formation of the Christian idea of purgatory and the regress of the retributive component in the concept of purgatory in the modern era. Through a historical-religious analysis the author tests the hypothesis about the influence of other religions on the formation of the Christian doctrine of purgatory. Particular attention is paid to the Zoroastrian idea of a separate place for the middle category of souls. The author comes to the conclusion that, despite a number of common features, the two doctrines reveal significant differences, which does not give us the right to speak about direct borrowing. In the second part of the article the question of regress of the concept of punitive retribution relative to purgatory is examined. The author reproduces the classical doctrinal system of the purgatory presented in Thomism and compares it with the variation of the doctrine that is represented in modern documents of the Catholic Church. The author holds the opinion that the doctrine of purgatory was formed in the environment of theological legalism and is by its nature a penitentiary concept. The classical concept of purgatory provides that purification is done through punishment. This concept may be called a "satisfaction model". However, in modern Catholic thought there is a departure from this model in favor of the other. The author claims that now the traditional retributive model of hell – and purgatory has always belonged to the infernal region – is experiencing its decline as a result of deep transformations in the ethical, axiological and legal sphere. Catholic doctrine of purgatory reflects a general tendency to eliminate the retributive element from infernology. According to modern documents of the Catholic Church, purgatory is now understood as a state/place where a person must experience the deep inner transformation necessary to join the divine being. This understanding of purgatory may be called the "sanctification model". Now the Catholic Church is trying to combine these approaches with a noticeable predominance of the second approach. The author believes that in the logical-rational area the indicated connection leads to an imbalance of the entire system, since there are serious internal differences between these approaches.

OBLIGATORYJNY SYSTEM NAUCZANIA RELIGII W SZKOŁACH PUBLICZNYCH W ŚWIETLE WYBRANYCH KONKORDATÓW

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-69
Author(s):  
Jacek Janusz Mrozek
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Third Reich ◽  
Time Dimension ◽  
Lower Saxony ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Third Reich ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Catholic Church

The subject of this article is an attempt to analyse the religion teaching in the mandatory formguaranteed by concordats from the Third Reich (1933), Bavaria (1924) − amended in 1968 and 1974,Lower Saxony (1965), Sarah (1985), Austria (1962 ) and Portugal (1940). Concordat guaranteesprotecting the right of the Catholic Church to teach religion in public schools in these countries areexpressed primarily in the field of religion education, its time dimension, in preparing their owneducational programs, providing religion teachers a rightful position like those teachers of othersubjects, and finally in the supervision on the teaching of religion in schools.

Selective Conscientious Objection and International Human Rights

2002 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 145-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonard Hammer
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Conscientious Objection ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Conscientious Objector ◽  
Human Right ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
International Human ◽  
The One ◽  
The Right

AbstractThe development of an international status for military conscientious objection received a strong backing by pronouncements from bodies like the Human Rights Committee that the capacity for objection can derive from the international human right to freedom of religion or belief of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Even with such pronouncements, questions remain in regard to the nature, boundaries and scope of this right. Most importantly, does this pronounced right allow for selective military conscientious objection within the international human rights system? This article will focus on the view that the capacity for military conscientious objection in the international human rights system derives from the right to freedom of religion and conscience. The implication of the international human right of freedom of religion or belief is important for its application to selective conscientious objection. However, even if the Human Rights Committee desires to limit the application of military conscientious objection, a selective objector can arguably still make the case for upholding a claim based on the human right and the manner in which it has been interpreted by the Committee and other international bodies. While on the one hand the focus on the human right to freedom of religion or belief can possibly provide the basis for a selective conscientious objector, it removes the possibility for claims that do not involve a religion or belief. The importance however of freedom of religion or behef should force a reviewing body to properly consider and measure the claim of a selective objector, with a view towards considering whether they are confronted with the manifestation of a belief and whether the state is violating such a seminal human right.

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH TESTED FOR CONFESSIONALISM: THE VATICAN II DOCTRINAL PRINCIPLES

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-171
Author(s):  
Matteo Visioli
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Vatican Ii ◽  
Church And State ◽  
The State ◽  
Religious Liberty ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
Concept Of Truth ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Catholic Church

AbstractIn Catholic doctrine, church and state are two different and autonomous institutional subjects, but they are mutually linked. Therefore, a believer, as a citizen, is a subject simultaneously of two legal systems; the state is bound to recognize the confessional dimension of its own members, and the church is called to realize its proper ends within a precise political-social context. The Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) constitutes for the Catholic Church a point of change and renewal. It did not limit itself to affirming the coexistence of the two systems in their independence, but it declared the necessity of a mutual alliance for the good of citizens and believers.Therefore, the church offers its own contribution to the state, favoring in this way the right to religious liberty; and the state allows the church to establish itself and carry out its proper mission in an institutional form, guaranteeing the protection of the rights of citizens as believers for the free expression of their faith, whether in a private dimension or in an organized form. Vatican II abandons, therefore, the concept of “state religion” in the classic sense of the term, and thus the privilege reserved to one among numerous religious expressions, and opens an authentic collaboration between parties as a prerequisite for the good not only for individual believers and religious organizations, but also for society itself. In particular, religious liberty finds its foundation no longer in the concept of truth (that legitimized the exclusion of other confessions in that they were “not true”), but in the concept of the dignity of the person, which must be protected as such.

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