Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Church restitution talks moving forward

Religious leaders have accepted the government's church restitution proposal in principle but are still negotiating a counter-proposal to ensure state funds for churches in the future.

The Ecumenical Council of Churches (ERC), which represents most of the country's churches, is expected to submit its proposal to the Culture Ministry, which is in charge of church restitution, in early August.

"If there is any solution reached, it will be a compromise," said Joel Ruml, executive director of the ERC. 

"We are trying to negotiate a solution that would at least guarantee some economic support for [the churches'] future existence."

In May, the government announced a restitution proposal to return church property seized after the communist takeover in 1948. 

According to estimates, during the 41 years of communist rule, a total of 181,000 hectares of forests and 72,000 hectares of farm land were confiscated from churches. 

Separately, the state currently pays about 1.4 billion Kč in subsidies to churches each year. 

Under the government's proposal, the state subsidies would be phased out as restitution payments begin. The government's plan calls for the return of 56 percent of church property confiscated during communist rule. 

The state would also pay out 59 billion Kč ($3.5 billion) in compensation over the course of 30 years. 

The government was forced back to the table on the restitution issue after the lower house of Parliament in 2008 rejected a proposal by the then center-right coalition government, which promised more in physical property - mostly fields, forests and ponds - and less cash.

In all, 16 of the country's Christian churches and the Federation of Jewish Communities of the Czech Republic have property that will be returned under the new proposed plan. 

The Catholic Church will receive about 83 percent of the available property with the other 17 percent to be divided up among the other denominations. 

Ruml said this is a clear advantage for the Catholics, but, given that about 95 percent of the property confiscated was taken from the Catholic churches, it is essential they receive the most compensation. 

"Most of the property seized belonged to the Roman Catholics," Ruml said. "We can try to unravel who owned what over the course of history because there were periods where the same property belonged to the Protestants. But in 1948, it belonged to the Catholics."

The government's proposal has met with some resistance from the junior ruling Public Affairs (VV) party, which has argued that the country's budget shortfalls should prevent any cash payouts as restitution. 

VV Chairman Radek John and Michal Babák, a VV MP and member of the commission that drafted the restitution proposal, have said the government should pay restitution by returning 100 percent of the property seized from the churches and forgo financial compensation. 

"In a situation where the government is short of money, it is a big problem to pay billions of crowns to churches, annually," John told the Czech News Agency. 

"It is necessary to consider what we are able to finance and what we are not." Ruml said VV's objections are unfounded as it is impossible to fully compensate churches only with property. 

Much of the property seized, Ruml argued, is no longer in possession of the state. 

"[VV's] is a populist proposal that gives the impression the state will save money, but that's not true," he said. 

"Much of the property has been, over the course of time, transferred to other owners. 

VV's proposal goes against the entire idea of restitution; only a partial redemption of the injustice against the churches will take place."