Legal aspects and finances

This subarea will focus legal frameworks of acting of religious communities, ways of funding, as well as social circumstances and social expectations concerning the Church-State relations in CEE countries. The work will be organized in four research lines (see below). Proposed studies are of great scientific and practical interests, as there are no comprehensive studies about Church-state relations in number of Central and Eastern European countries despite very often heated public debates about different  aspects of social and legal positions of different religious communities. The work will cover nine Central and Eastern European countries( Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech R., Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine) and will systematize knowledge about Church-state relations. In addition, the studies can influence debates and practices concerning human rights, of which religious rights are indispensable part, in researched countries.

1. Legal patterns and social reality of the status of religious communities

The post-communist transition brought out a profound transformation of social and legal positions of religious communities. Although the general direction of changes were in line with more favorable position of religious communities, that has nevertheless created series of social controversies, mainly evolving around the question of how some basic constitutional principles (like separation of Church and state, or equality in law) should be realized in societies with very different religious and social background, current situation, and trends.

The main purpose of the proposed work is:

-          to give an overview of legal patterns of Church-state relations in Central and Eastern European societies,

-          to group countries according to legal patterns (constitutional arrangements, hidden and outspoken two-tier systems, the role of agreements in shaping the system),

-          to present religious situation in concerned societies (describe their basic religious profiles),

-          to research relations between legal patterns and social reality of religious communities.

2. Social expectations concerning the Church-state relations

Church-state relations changed completely after the fall of Communism. However, there have been many issues that provoked very opposing opinions, and even social conflicts in the context of regulation of their mutual relations, and particularly about the rights and positions of traditional, dominant and new and/or minor religious communities. Although many arguments have been involved in social discussions (like the human rights perspective, provision of equality, experiences of Western democracies etc.) public social expectations have been very rarely taken into the consideration.

The main purpose of the proposed paper is:

-          to research social image of different religions (traditional and non-traditional/minor),

-          to research public expectations about the role of religious communities in different societies (how can religious communities be involved in solving of social problems, what services can provide, how the Churches have to be financed etc.),

-          to research relations between patterns of Church-state relations and social expectations in Central and Eastern European societies.

3. Constitutional expression of religious identities

Constitutional norms and practices – from preambles to the symbolic communication of state organs – have an important role in expressing the identity of the political community. Besides ethnicity religious identities shape national traditions to a high degree, but for various reasons they appear in formal legal documents often only in a hidden way (closely linked to historical traditions, e. g. courts of arms).

The main purpose of the proposed paper is:

-          to provide a comparative analysis of the constitutional expression of

religious identities going beyond the constitutional norms,

-          to scrutinize the practice below the constitutional surface of the countries covered.

4. Funding of religious institutions

Religious communities may become important actors in the social structure of countries providing social services, education, employment, managing property. Special attention is to be paid to the role of public funds as well as to differences between mainstream religious communities, minority religions and new religious movements.

The main purpose of the proposed paper is:

-          to provide a comparative analysis of the funding of religious institutions,

-          to analyze the role of public funds in the funding of religious communities,

-          to provide a comparative analysis of the economics of religion,

-          to present emerging funding systems to countries where funding patterns are subject of discussion.

Balázs Schanda, Pázmány Péter Catholic University (PPKE), Hungary

Siniša Zrinščak, Institute for Social Research of Zagreb (IDIZ), Croatia