THE STATE AND RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES IN THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA
1. Introduction
There is no uniform European or
world approach to regulating relations between the state and religious
communities. Apart from respecting fundamental human rights, models differ
above all because of the historical and cultural environment of each individual
state.
After independence, Slovenia
determined with its new democratic Constitution to separate the state and
religious communities, on freedom of religion and the equality of all religious
communities.
We understand the priority task in
this field to be building constitutional principles into everyday life and
strengthening the culture of tolerance and dialogue in Slovene society.
2. Legal sources and clarification
of key terms
Human rights to the free
expression of religion in the Republic of Slovenia are regulated by the
Constitution and Law.
The rights of an individual to
free expression of religion are understood in the context of the category of
freedom of conscience, and the collective rights realised by religious
communities or groups. In their activities, these are free, separated from the
state and equal. Religious communities are legal entities under private law if,
in compliance with the Act on the legal position of religious communities, of
1976, they register their foundation with the Office of the Government RS for
Religious Communities.
The separation of state and
religious communities is understood in the sense of the free activity and
autonomy of religious communities, within the framework of the valid legal
order, and cooperation with the state in those fields in which a mutual
interest in this is found by both sides. Equality is conceived as guaranteeing
equal legal possibilities to all religious communities.
The Government RS sent a proposed
new Religious Communities Act to the National Assembly in 1998. This envisages,
as a key innovation, the procedure of registration of religious communities and
the classification of these as non-profit associations.
In 1999, the Government RS signed
with the Bishop's Conference of the Roman Catholic Church in the Republic of
Slovenia, an Agreement on the legal position of the Roman Catholic Church in
RS. On the basis of this text, negotiations are taking place between a
delegation of the Republic of Slovenia and the Holy See on an Agreement on the
Legal Position of the Roman Catholic Church in the Republic of Slovenia.
In 2000, the Government RS signed
an agreement on legal position with the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg
Confession in the Republic of Slovenia. Other religious communities have also
expressed interest in concluding agreements with the Government RS.
3. The position of religious
communities
3.1. Financing
The Republic of Slovenia does not
directly finance the activities of religious communities, but these may obtain
funds which the state devotes to all owners of cultural monuments for their
restoration. The state provides religious communities with committed material
support - the employers social security contribution of priests and monks for
whom this is the only profession; symbolic funds are also devoted to the
assistance of religious communities and are distributed on the principle of
openness and for projects by a religious community devoted to wider society.
Religious communities as legal
entities of private law also compete for other funds from the state budget, for
the implementation of specific programmes, mainly in the social sphere. Some
religious communities have their own charitable organisations, which obtain
funds on an equal footing with other humanitarian organisations.
3.2. Nursery and education
institutions
There is no religious education in
public schools in the Republic of Slovenia, although in accordance with the
reform of the system of public schools, a non-confessional subject, Religion
and Ethics, is being introduced into the syllabus, intended to familiarise
pupils with the more important world religions.
Religious communities can found
private nursery institutions and schools of all levels. The state co-finances
the activities of such kindergartens and schools, generally to a level of 85%
of costs of programmes in comparable public institutions, if the cited
institutions of religious communities are organised in compliance with the law
and implement publicly valid programmes.
The only tertiary education
institution of religious communities in the Republic of Slovenia is the
Theological Faculty of the Roman Catholic Church, which is also a member of the
University.
3.3. Media
Religious communities may also
publish public media. As legal entities, they may also establish other legal
entities which are also involved in publishing, book distribution, etc.
National television has a religious
affairs department. One place on the Council of the national radio and
television house, RTV, is reserved for a representative of religious
communities.
3.4. Pastoral care in the armed
forces, prisons and hospitals
There is no chaplaincy or curate
service in the Slovene army. Army conscripts may take part in religious
services in their free time, when their duties do not require their presence in
the unit.
In agreement with the leadership
of religious communities, all army conscripts who wish this are permitted
discussions or lectures with a religious content. Representatives of religious
communities can enter areas and premises of military buildings under rules
which apply to civilians.
The carrying of printed religious
material and literature into military facilities is not restricted.
Citizens who perform the work of
priests or monks in religious communities professionally are not posted to
reserve units of the Slovene Army.
Civilian service of military
service is also possible in organisations or institutions of religious
communities. Substitute civilian service lasts the same length as military
service, seven months.
Representatives of religious
communities regularly visit prisons. The frequency of their visits depends on
the type of institution and the needs and wishes of prisoners or detainees. At
the time of major religious festivals or special occasions, they also prepare
divine service or other events in prisons, although no special premises are
fitted for this purpose. Religious literature is available in prison libraries.
Every patient has the right to an
active religious life, including in hospital. Representatives of religious
communities behave according to the needs and wishes of patients, the doctor's
judgement and the in-house rules. Hospitals provide space for religious
services or the undisturbed discussion between priest and patient, in
accordance with their spatial possibilities. Religious communities provide
fittings for such areas.
3.5. Marriage
Marriages concluded by a religious
community do not have civil validity in the Republic of Slovenia. A marriage
having civil validity is concluded in front of the responsible state body.
3.6. Religious holidays
The Act on Holidays and Workfree
Days in the Republic of Slovenia determines fifteen holidays and work free
days. Events connected with the history of the nation and state and Slovene
culture and tradition are defined as holidays.
Religious holidays - the Catholic
Easter Sunday and Monday, Whitsunday, the Ascension of Mary and Christmas and
the Protestant Reformation Day - are considered work free days.
On work free days, all employees
have the right to rest, compensation pay and special rates of pay insofar as
they have to work on such a day.
Members of religious communities
whose important religious holiday is not a work free day by law, have the right
to use this day as part of their regular annual leave.
4. Statistical data on members of
religious communities
The Constitution of the Republic
of Slovenia determines that nobody shall be required to reveal their religious
or other convictions, so there is also no data base to enable an exact overview
of the structure of religious affiliation of citizens.
Data exists from the regular
population censuses of 1953 and 1991 which embrace all inhabitants and the
results of social science research on smaller statistical samples, which can be
generalised to the whole of Slovenia with a certain reliability.
4.1.
Data on the religion
of the population of the Republic of Slovenia from the census of population of
1991
|
Religion |
No.
of inhabitants |
Percentage |
|
Catholic |
1,403,014 |
71.36 |
|
Orthodox |
46,819 |
2.38 |
|
Islam |
29,719 |
1.51 |
|
Protestant |
19,000 |
0.97 |
|
Oriental
cults |
346 |
0.02 |
|
Jewish |
201 |
0.01 |
|
Other
religions |
254 |
0.01 |
|
Believers
who belong to no religion |
3,993 |
0.2 |
|
Not a
believer |
85,485 |
4.35 |
|
Does
not wish to answer |
82, 837 |
4.21 |
|
Unknown |
294,318 |
14.97 |
Source:
Research Results, no. 617/1994, Zavod RS za statistiko, p. 118.
4.2.
The Centre for Public
Opinion Research and Mass Communication at the Faculty of Social Sciences of
the University of Ljubljana has systematically since 1968 carried out a project
"Slovene public opinion", the widest longitudinal social sciences
empirical research in Slovenia, which is based on a representative sample of
the adult population of Slovenia.
Respondees, of which there were
one thousand in 1999, also answered the following question in the research:
To which religious community do
you belong, if any?
|
Catholic |
72.3% |
|
Orthodox |
1.7% |
|
Islam |
1.1% |
|
Evangelical |
0.7% |
|
Other
non-Christian |
0.3% |
|
Other
Christian |
1.3% |
|
None |
16.7% |
|
No
answer, don't know |
5.8% |
Source:
Toš, N. et al: SJM99/4, FDV, CJMMK, Ljubljana, 2000
4.3.
In the context of the project "Slovene Public Opinion", international
research also took place on faith and attitudes to the church, Aufbruch - New
Departures. The research was carried out on a representative sample (N=1050)
adult citizens of the Republic of Slovenia.
Respondents in this research also
answered the question: To which church or religious community do you belong
today?. In the table below are ommitted the possible offered answers to the
cited question to which respondents in the Republic of Slovenia did not
respond.
|
Catholic,
Roman Catholic |
64.7% |
|
Mohammedan,
Muslim, Islamic |
1.0% |
|
Orthodox |
0.6% |
|
Other |
0.6% |
|
Jehovah
Witness |
0.5% |
|
Evangelical,
Lutheran |
0.2% |
|
Pentacostal |
0.1% |
|
Greek
(Armenian) Catholic |
0.1% |
|
Unification
Church |
0.1% |
|
Baptist |
0.1% |
|
Declined
to answer |
32.1% |
Source:
Toš, N. et al: SJM97/2, FDV, CJMMK, Ljubljana, 1997