ZAGREB, June 8 (Hina) – The Movement for a Secular Croatia civil initiative and three NGOs on Monday sent political parties open letters asking them if they think the agreements between the Holy See and Croatia should be revised or rescinded in order to protect the constitutionally guaranteed secularism.
The query was sent to the political parties running in the July 5 parliamentary election and the replies, expected by June 20, will be made public.
The NGOs say a number of problems stem from the agreements, such as the annual state budget expense of HRK 1.2 billion and the status of religious education.
They also say the agreements undermine the equality of citizens under the law and that the Catholic Church has a privileged position in relation to other religious communities in Croatia, and consider it problematic that it does not pay tax on its commercial activities.
They say that any treaty or law which is above the obligation to comply with the constitution paves the way for undermining Croatia’s sovereignty as a law-based state and the constitution as its fundamental legal act.
