Churches in Liechtenstein, one of the world's smallestcountries, could face financial disaster under government plans towithdraw state subsidies under new legislation, according to aProtestant leader.
"This will be a drastic change -- we depend on financial support,and there'll be no chance of obtaining it if the new law goes ahead,"said Markus Meidert, president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church ofLiechtenstein.
"This is a predominantly Catholic country, and the Catholic Churchis unhappy with the plans as well. But the new law will be especiallyhard and treacherous for smaller churches like ours, who have none ofthe Catholic church's resources."
A bill before Liechtenstein's 25-member parliament proposes to endthe Roman Catholic church's status as official state church and alsowithdraw state subsidies from recognized religious communities.
Meidert told ENInews that state grants account for half the currentbudget of the Evangelical Lutheran church, which has no means ofgenerating income like Christian churches in neighboring Germany andAustria.
The Roman Catholic Church accounts for 78 percent of the 36,000inhabitants of Liechtenstein, situated between Austria and Switzerland,and receives 300,000 Swiss francs yearly from the state budget, as wellas additional funds from the country's 11 municipalities.
Under the government-sponsored reform package, the Roman CatholicChurch would lose its status as "state church" with "full protectionfrom the state" as laid out in Liechtenstein's 2003 constitution.
The church's guaranteed role in education and religious teaching inschools would also end, and the state would fund only those programs andservices that benefit the collective good.
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