Values ​​to be promoted

"Balance between the good of individual and the common good, respect for basic human rights and freedom, principles of solidarity and subsidiarity". These are the main pillars that the Catholic Church in Slovakia has been trying to establish within the frame of relations with the state. According to the bishops, it has particular importance before the pre-term parliamentary elections, due to take place on 10 March. In this regard, the representatives of the Church have formulated several principles concerning life of the society and the challenges associated with the following four years of the country’s future.Support of life and family. Catholic Church points to the regression of family, associated with high divorce rate and large number of children born outside the marriage. Unfavorable demographic development doesn’t only reflect the lack of money, it is also a sign of strong individualism. The Church turns to the representatives of political and social life with proposal to adopt measures that would reverse this trend, including preparation of the national program for the support of family, setout of constitutional law on protection of marriage, regulation of work during Sundays, state and public holidays. Promotion of sustainable development. Permanent economical growth should not be the only goal of politics, neither the only source of social prosperity. The main objective is an integral human development, respecting people in their complexity. Representatives of the Church note that the biggest obstacle in reaching this condition is corruption. Therefore, they suggest several steps like prevention of new debts on national and regional level; thorough investigation of corruption scandals; achievement and maintenance of social reconciliation and appropriate preservation of the goods necessary for dignified human life also during the economical crisis; and particular attention paid towards integration of the Roma.Reform of the health care system. Health resort has been recently facing a severe crisis, resulting in indebtedness of hospitals and high pharmaceuticals expenses. It needs to be considered that health care is a public service and its sources are limited. This fact shows that it’s necessary to search for a balance between justice and solidarity. According to the Bishops’ conference it seems inevitable to prepare a solidary model of multisource financing, to introduce electronic health care system and to make the economical systems of hospitals more transparent.Relations with the Holy See. Rapports between the Catholic Church and Slovakia are defined in the Basic Agreement between the Holy See and the Slovak republic, Treaty on pastoral care for Catholic believers in the armed forces and Treaty about Catholic upbringing and education. The Basic Agreement from 2000 assumes adoption of another two partial treaties – on the right to exercise objection of conscience and on financing of the Catholic Church. In this regard the prelates propose preparation of the treaty on objection of conscience that would be acceptable by the public as well as by the political spectrum, and enlargement of an expert commission dealing with financing of the Churches, established within the Ministry of Culture, also by the representatives of another Ministries.Education. National legislation of Slovak republic includes obligation for the state to support financially the schools and school facilities run by the Church. Current situation in this area shows that state and Church institutions don’t have an equal access to public finances, which is the condition that needs to be changed by defining the mechanism that would render impossible to change agreed rules by arbitrary interpretation of the law regulations.Equal financing of social services. Area of social services and health care represents one of the most important spheres of activity of the Church institutions and contributes to the complexity of its mission regarding development and fulfillment of solidarity with the needy, explain Slovak bishops. Therefore it is necessary to guarantee equal financing of the Church owned health care institutions comparing to those owned by the state, namely hospices; to solve difficult situation in the area of nursing services where its private providers are currently disadvantaged; and to facilitate providing of social services in domestic environment, taking into account its lower costs comparing to sanitary facilities.Preservation of cultural heritage. Custody and protection of cultural monuments represents an important instrument for preservation of cultural heritage of the country. It is in the best interest of the society that the state guarantees their maintenance with clear rules associated with providing of adequate financial resources.