Slovenia denies to its citizens full religious liberty as a basic human right: that is the gist of the declaration that Archbishop Franc Rodé of Ljubljana and President of the Slovene Episcopal Conference, made in the course of the international symposium on teaching religion at school, held at Celje, in Slovenia from 5 to 9 November, as part of the programme of the Katholikentag for Central European Catholics (MEKT). According to the archbishop, “with the clear separation between Church and State prescribed by the Slovene Constitution, Christianity has been reduced to the private sphere and “excluded from the formative and educational process”. Slovenia is the only post-Communist country in which religion is not taught at school, a fact that according to Msgr. Rodé expresses “a negative concept of religion, not yet overcome, and inherited from the Communist period”. Meeting in plenary assembly on 10 November, the Slovene bishops expressed the desire that the catechism, currently taught in the parishes, should become part of the normal curriculum in public schools. At the same assembly, another problem was tackled: that of the ratification of the Accord between the Holy See and the Republic of Slovenia, still being examined by the Constitutional Court. “In Slovenia the bishops emphasised the attitude of the State to the Catholic Church is less favourable than in neighbouring countries such as Croatia and Hungary”.
