THE STATE AND RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES IN THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA

1. Introduction

There is no single pattern of relations between the state and religious communities, either in Europe or elsewhere. Models differ primarily because of the history and cultural environment of each individual country. After its independence, Slovenia adopted a democratic constitution (December 1991) separating the state and religious communities, and ensuring the freedom of religious belief and equality of all religious communities.

Incorporation of the constitutional principles in everyday life and strengthening of the culture of tolerance and dialogue in the Slovenian society is a priority in this field.

2. Legal sources, explanation of key terms and timeline of events

The right to religious freedom in the Republic of Slovenia is laid down in the constitution and in other legislation: both the collective right exercised by religious communities set out in Article 7 of the Constitution, and the right of individuals under Articles 14, 16, 41, 63 and 123 of the Constitution.

Article 7 of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia (Official Gazette of RS, no. 33/91) says that the state and religious communities shall be separated, that religious communities shall enjoy equal rights, and that they shall pursue their activities freely. The separation of the state and religious communities is understood in the sense of freedom of activity and autonomy of all religious communities within the applicable legislation and cooperation with the state on areas of common interest. Equality is understood as the provision of equal legal opportunities to all religious communities. Religious communities are, according to the Religious Freedom Act (Official Gazette of RS, no. 14/07), legal persons in private law, if they register at the Government Office for Religious Communities in accordance with the Religious Freedom Act. 

The religious freedom of an individual in terms of freedom of conscience is laid down in Article 41 of the Constitution, which provides each individual with the right to profess their religion freely, and other beliefs in private and public life, and parents' right to raise their children religiously and ethically. 16. Article 16 of the Constitution says that constitutionally determined human rights and fundamental freedoms may be suspended or restricted only for the duration of the war or state of emergency. However, in the second paragraph, the Constitution does not allow any temporary suspension or restriction of rights provided by Article 41. With this, the Constitution places religious freedom among those specially protected constitutional rights which demand absolute respect of their implementation. The Constitution also prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion or other belief (paragraph 1 of Article 14) and prohibits incitement to religious inequality and incitement of religious hatred and intolerance (Article 63). Furthermore, the Constitution also recognises the right to conscientious objection (Article 64) and says that citizens who due to religious convictions are not willing to perform military duties must be given the opportunity to participate in the national defence in some other manner (Article 123).  

In 1976, the Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia adopted the Legal Status of Religious Communities Act (Official Gazette of SRS, no. 15/76, 42/86, and Official Gazette of RS, no. 22/91), which remained in force until the adoption of the Religious Freedom Act, in February 2007.

With the Decision establishing the Government Office of the Republic of Slovenia for Religious Communities (Official Gazette or RS, no. 72/93), the Government in 1993 established the Government Office of the Republic of Slovenia for Religious Communities.

In 1998, the Government of RS sent to the National Assembly a draft of a new Religious Communities Act, which was not discussed in the National Assembly.

In 1999, the Government of RS with the Bishops' Conference of the Roman Catholic Church signed the Agreement on the judicial status of the Roman Catholic Church in RS.

On 25 January 2000, the Government of RS with the Evangelical Church in the Republic of Slovenia signed the Agreement on the judicial status of the Evangelical Church in the Republic of Slovenia. Other religious communities also expressed their interest in signing similar agreements with the Government of RS.

On 21 September 2000, the Government of RS signed the agreement between the Slovenian Bishops' Conference and the Government of the Republic of Slovenia on spiritual and religious care for enlisted persons in the Slovenian Armed Forces.

On October 20, 2000, the Government of RS signed the agreement between the Evangelical Church in the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of the Republic of Slovenia on spiritual and religious care for enlisted persons in the Slovenian Armed Forces.

On 14 December 2001, the Government of RS with the Holy See signed the agreement between the Republic of Slovenia and the Holy See on legal issues, while the National Assembly passed the Act ratifying the Agreement between the Republic of Slovenia and the Holy See on legal issues on 28 January 2004.

On 17 March 2004, the Government of RS with the Pentecostal Church in the Republic of Slovenia signed the agreement on judicial status of the Pentecostal Church in the Republic of Slovenia.

On 9 July 2004, the Government of RS with the Serbian Orthodox Church – the Zagreb-Ljubljana Metropolitanate – signed the Agreement on the judicial status of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

On 16 February 2006, the Government of RS adopted the Religious Freedom Act and sent it to the National Assembly.

The National Assembly passed the Religious Freedom Act on 19 December 2006, and after three days, the National Council passed a suspension veto on the Act.

On 2 February 2007, the National Council again passed the Religious Freedom Act, and it was published in the Official Gazette on 16 February 2007 and came into force on 3 March 2007.

The Government of RS adopted on 1 March 2007 the Decision amending the Decision establishing Government Office of the Republic of Slovenia for Religious Communities (Official Gazette of RS, no. 22/07). 22/07).

On 21 March 2007, the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia passed the request for a procedure of a constitutional review of the Religious Freedom Act, Article 20 of the Legal Status of Religious Communities Act, and Article 52 of the Defence Act (Official Gazette of RS, no. 82/94), including a? proposal to suspend implementation of the Religious Freedom Act until the final decision of the Constitutional Court.

The Constitutional Court on 23 April 2007 issued a unanimous decision rejecting the proposal of the National Council for suspending implementation of the Religious Freedom Act until the final decision of the Constitutional Court.    

The Religious Freedom Act became fully applicable on 3 June 2007.

On 9 July 2007, the Government of RS signed with the Islamic Community in the Republic of Slovenia the Agreement on the judicial status of the Islamic Community in the Republic of Slovenia.

3. Status of religious communities

3.1. Funding

Registered churches and other religious communities can, under the conditions provided by the Religious Freedom Act, ask on behalf of their religious officials who are citizens of the Republic of Slovenia with a permanent residence in the Republic of Slovenia and the occupation of religious official is their only occupation, on the basis of their authorisation and on their behalf, the acquisition of the right to targeted national financial support from the state budget to cover social security contributions, which include contributions for compulsory pension and disability insurance (contribution of the insured person) and for compulsory health insurance (contribution of the insured person). The contribution shall be calculated from the base in the amount of 60% of the average wage. The process of providing the right to paid contributions considers a reasonable proportion between the number of religious officials and the number of members of the registered church and other religious communities who are citizens of the Republic of Slovenia with a permanent residence in the Republic of Slovenia. A reasonable proportion shall be deemed to exist if there is a ratio of at least 1,000 members of the registered church or other religious community per one religious official of that church or other religious community.

Registered churches and other religious communities shall be financed mainly by donations and other contributions from natural and legal persons and from their other property, as well as by the contributions of international religious organisations whose members they are. The state may provide material support for registered churches and other religious communities because of their general importance.  The state may provide material support for religious communities. The act under which the support is provided may also determine the purpose on which the support is to be spent. For that purpose the Office disposes of nominal budgetary funds.

Religious communities as legal persons in private law may also compete for other funds from the state budget, for the implementation of specific programmes, in particular in the social area, and programmes and projects on the protection of mobile and immobile cultural heritage.

The Ministry of Culture has so far funded churches through tenders for actions on the protection of national monuments, with the Agreement on archiving by the Roman Catholic Church in the Republic of Slovenia, signed on 30 July 2003 between Culture Minister, Andreja Rihter, and the Archbishop of Ljubljana and Slovenian Metropolitan, France Rode, while the activities of the archdiocesan archives in Ljubljana and Maribor, and the diocesan archive in Koper are co-funded in to the amount of 70%.

Churches and other religious communities registered at the Office, as well as their constitutive parts which are legal persons, must be entered in the register of taxpayers on the basis of Article 42 of the Tax Administration Act (Official Gazette of RS, no. 1/07). 1/07). The Corporate Income Tax Act (Official Gazette of RS, no. 117/06) stipulates that a religious community is a person liable to corporate income tax, but a taxable person, such as for example an association, religious community, chamber etc, does not pay tax if it is in accordance with a special act established for pursuing a non-profit activity, and if it actually operates in accordance with the purpose of its establishment and operation. Irrespective of the aforementioned, even such taxable persons are obliged to pay tax on income from a profitable activity. Churches and other religious communities, as well as their constitutive parts which are legal persons, are obliged just as every other legal person to annually submit a tax return on their corporate income tax at the latest within three months from the beginning of the calendar year for the previous calendar year. The tax return includes data from the balance sheet, and income and expenditure accounts made on the basis of the Accounting Act and the accounting standards, if churches and other religious communities had already submitted such data to the Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for public and legal records and services (AJPES). The form for the tax return is compiled so that it includes all income and expenditure arising from profitable and non-profitable activities, while the calculation of the tax income arising from a non-profitable activity and the actual or proportional expenses arising from, such activity is excluded from the tax base.  The Rules concerning definitions of profitable and non-profitable activity (November 2007), currently in the adoption procedure at the Ministry of Finance, will define pofitable and non-profitable activities more precisely. 

The taxation of religious officials is carried out in accordance with a special system, whereas the earnings of religious officials are determined in accordance with the Decree determining revenues of the clergy from their relationship with the religious community (Official Gazette of RS, no. 136/06). 136/06).

Religious communities are exempt from paying compensation for the use of building sites for buildings used by religious communities for their activities. This was provided by the regulated of the Construction Land Act from 1984 (Official Gazette of SRS, no. 18/84), and the validity of the part of the act related to payment of compensation for the use of building sites was preserved with the Construction Land Act from 1997 (Official Gazette of RS, no. 44/97). 44/97). The model of compensation for the use of building sites, considering modern legislation, is an ‘obsolete’ duty, which has been replaced by a tax on real estate in the majority of European countries. Until the introduction of such a tax, which is envisaged in the Republic of Slovenia, compensation for the use of building sites is in force. 

Certain religious communities have charity organisations which obtain their funds on equal rights basis as other humanitarian organisations.

3.2. Education institutions

The Constitution of RS stipulates in Article 41 that: ''Parents have the right to provide their children with religious and moral upbringing in accordance with their beliefs.’’ which is also summarised by the Religious Freedom Act (Official Gazette of RS, no. 14/07),  Article 10: ''Parents have the right to raise their children in accordance with their religious belief.’’

There is no religious education in public schools in Slovenia. The majority of religious content is included in the subject Religions and Ethics, which is compulsory/optional subject (which means that every elementary school is obliged to offer it as an optional subject, while its realisation depends on the number of applications). If the number of students who applied for the subject, is sufficient, it is given out in the 7th, 8th and 9th grade once a week.  According to the subject curriculum, ‘‘the obligatory–optional subject Religions and Ethics offers students a chance to expand/supplement, differentiate and question the knowledge of religions and ethics they gain in obligatory/core subjects’’.  There is no such subject in public secondary schools.

Religious communities can establish educational institutions, residence halls for pupils and students, and other similar institutions and in them perform educational activities in line with their own statutes in accordance with the constitutional and legal order of the Republic of Slovenia.

According to data from the Ministry of Education and Sport, there are 105 independent kindergartens, 186 kindergartens under primary schools, and 20 private kindergartens in Slovenia. Certain private kindergartens operate under a Catholic programme.

There is no primary school in Slovenia established by a religious community. In 2007, the Catholic Church established a primary school which is expected to open in September 2008.   

There are 246 secondary schools in Slovenia which implement state-approved programmes, of which six secondary schools are private. Four were established by the Catholic Church; Diocesan Grammar School Vipava, Grammar School Želimlje, Diocesan Classical Grammar School in Ljubljana, Diocesan Grammar School in Maribor. The first three were established before 1996 and are covered by the applicable legislation in terms of funding equal to public secondary schools (100% funding). One fo them school (as well as the remaining two private schools not established by a religious community) was established after 1996 and therefore the state provides only 85% of its funding.

According to data from the Ministry of Education and Sport, a total of 91,554 students were enrolled in all secondary schools in the Republic of Slovenia in the 2007/2008 academic year, of which 1,748 students were enrolled in secondary schools established by a religious community (the four schools mentioned above), which is 1.9% of all students. 

The sole higher education institution established by a religious community in the Republic of Slovenia is the Faculty of Theology, which is part of the University of Ljubljana (and one of the five founding faculties of the University). The faculty has a branch in Maribor. According to data from the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, a total of 100,113 students enrolled in all higher education programmes in the 2006/07 academic year, of which 728 students were studying at the Faculty of Theology, which is 0.71% of the total number of students. 

3.3. Media

Religious communities are equal in freedom, conditions and rights in the establishment and ownership of media, to all other legal persons in the Republic of Slovenia.

As legal persons, they can establish other legal persons to deal with publishing, bookselling, etc.

The national television station has a religious programme editorial. Two members of the programme council of the national radio-television are appointed by the President of the Republic on the proposal of registered religious communities. In 2005, those appointed were a representative of the Catholic Churc, Janez Gril, and a representative of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the Zagreb–Ljubljana Metropolitanate, Saša Pauković.

3.4. Religious and spiritual care in the armed forces, prisons, hospitals, social welfare institutions providing institutional care, and the police

Religious and spiritual care in the military

The Religious Freedom act in Article 22 provides members of the Slovenian Armed Forces during their service with the right to religious and spiritual care. Religious and spiritual care is regulated in the Defence Act (Official Gazette of RS, no. 103/04 – official consolidated text), and in more detail in the Rules on Service in the Slovenian Army (Official Gazette of RS, no. 49/96, 111/00, 52/01 and 82/03) and in the Rules on the organisation of religious and spiritual care (Official Gazette of RS, no. 58/03). The Agreement between the Slovenian Bishops' Conference and the Government of the Republic of Slovenia on religious and spiritual care in the Slovenian Army and the Agreement between the Evangelical Church in the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of the Republic of Slovenia on religious and spiritual care for enlisted persons in the Slovenian Army have also been signed.

Religious and spiritual care for members of the Slovenian Army, employees of the Ministry and their family members, regardless of their religious affiliation, is provided by the Military Vicariate. The vicariate comprises of a military vicar, a deputy vicar for the Catholic Church, a deputy vicar for the Evangelical Church in the Republic of Slovenia, military chaplains, pastoral assistants and administration clerk. Members of the Military Vicariate regularly provide religious and spiritual care with their presence among soldiers, by organising pilgrimages, family meetings, by giving sacraments, sermons held for the homeland, by holding lectures and other appropriate activities. More about the Military Vicariate: www.slovenskavojska.si/poklicna/enote/gssv/vikariat.htm

Religious and spiritual care in prisons

The area of religious and spiritual care at the Prison Administration of the Republic of Slovenia is covered by the coordinator for religious and spiritual care of imprisoned persons, who is responsible for arranging visits by representatives of religious communities in respect of the needs and wishes of imprisoned persons. Prisons are regularly visited by representatives of religious communities. The frequency of their visits depends on the type of institution and needs and wishes of imprisoned persons or detainees. Sermons or other events are organised in prisons on major religious holidays or special occasions. Religious literature is available in prison libraries or delivered to imprisoned persons on their request being passed on to the coordinator for the religious and spiritual care of imprisoned persons.

Religious and spiritual care in hospitals and social welfare institutions providing institutional care

The Religious Freedom Act in Article 25 provides patients in hospitals, as well as persons employed in social welfare institutions who provide institutional care (to care-dependent persons) with the right to regular individual and collective religious and spiritual care.  The act also stipulates that, if the number of patients in hospitals in the whole country with the same religious belief is sufficient, the Ministry of Health shall provide for the employment of the necessary number of priests. A priest employed in such a way can freely perform their duties and visit patients when necessary. Certain hospitals have priests who provide care and are responsible for informing patients on care in a manner usual for a hospital. 

According to the Religious Freedom Act, hospitals and institutions providing institutional care are obliged to provide the spatial and technical conditions for religious and spiritual care. The majority of hospitals in Slovenia, as well as most nursing homes, have a chapel or similar premises for religious rites.  Religious officials providing religious and spiritual care have access to those institutions, as well as other social welfare institutions providing institutional care, in accordance with the legislation and house rules of individual institutions.

Religious and spiritual care in the police force

The Religious Freedom Act repealed Article 73.a of the Police Act, which regulated the area of religious and spiritual care before the implementation of the Religious Freedom Act. Religious and spiritual care is regulated in Article 23, which stipulates that the state is obliged to provide religious and spiritual care for police officers who want that in circumstances when they find it difficult to implement their religious freedom. On the basis of that article, the Minster of the Interior issued the Rules on the manner and organisation of religious and spiritual support in police (Official Gazette of RS, no. 72/07 of 10/08/2007), which determine the manner and organisation of the implementation of that right.

3.5. Marriages 

Marriages concluded within religious communities in the Republic of Slovenia are not recognised by under civil law. A marriage recognised under civil law is concluded before a competent state authority. 

3.6. Religious holidays 

Holidays and Days off in the Republic of Slovenia Act (Official Gazette of RS, no. 26/91) stipulates that certain religious holidays – Easter Sunday and Monday, Whit Sunday, Assumption Day, Reformation Day and Christmas – are days off.

4. Statistical data on association with religious communities

The Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia stipulates that no one is obliged to declare their religious or other belief, so Slovenia does not have a database enabling precise insight into the religious structure of the population.

There are data on regular censuses of the population which covered the complete population, and the results of social surveys on minor statistical samples which can be generalised for the whole Slovenia with a certain amount of reliability.

Data on the religious beliefs of citizens of the Republic of Slovenia according to the 1991 census

Source: Results of surveys, no. 617/1994, Statistical Office of RS, page 118. 118.

Data on the religious beliefs of citizens of the Republic of Slovenia according to the 2002 census

Source: Statistical data, no. 92/2003, Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia.

2.1.

Since 1968, the Public Opinion and Mass Communication Research Centre at the Ljubljana Faculty of Social Sciences has been systematically carrying out the ‘Slovenian Public Opinion’ project, the most comprehensive longitudinal social empirical survey in Slovenia, based on representative samples of adult citizens of Slovenia.

The thousand people polled in the survey in 1999 also answered the following question:

Which religious community do you belong to?

Source: Toš, N. et al: SJM99/4, FDV, CJMMK, Ljubljana, 2000.

The project ‘Slovenian Public Opinion’ in 1997 also included an International survey on religion and people’s relationship with the Church, Aufbruch - New Departures. The survey was carried out on a representative sample (N=1050) of adult citizens of the Republic of Slovenia.

The respondents to the survey also answered the following question: Which church or religious community do you belong to today? Options for which the respondent did not opt were excluded from the table below.

Source: Toš, N. et al: SJM99/2, FDV, CJMMK, Ljubljana, 1997.

Identification with religious communities and churches among citizens of Slovenia, WVS 1992, 1995, 1999

Source: WVS, University of Ljubljana, IDV FDV, CJMMK v Rus, V., Toš, N.: Values of Slovenians and Europeans, FDV, IDV, CJMMK, Ljubljana, 2005.

Prepared at the Office of Religious Communities, on 5/12/2007

Sources:

Ø      The Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia (Official Gazette of RS, no. 33/91)

Ø      The Religious Freedom Act (Official Gazette of RS, no. 14/07)

Ø      The Construction Land Act from 1997 (Official Gazette of RS, no. 44/97)

Ø      Statistical data, 27 June 2007, no. 42, Education, Graduates of vocational colleges and higher education institutes, Slovenia, 2006

Ø      Statistical data, 27 June 2007, no. 37, Education, Enrolment of students in tertiary education in the 2006/2007 academic year

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