Czech church and state seal historic restitution deal

The Czech state and national religious groups and churches have
signed off on an historic deal aimed at compensating them for
Communist-era dispossessions of their considerable assets.

The overall property settlement has been the subject of talks for
over 20 years, with the thorny issue representing one of the biggest
unresolved issues hanging over from the Communist regime that collapsed
at the end of 1989.

The last part of the deal, covering how long the state would continue
to pay clergy salaries and pay a modest sum for the upkeep of churches,
was hammered out on Thursday, with the Czech state agreeing to continue
making payments over a 17-year transition period.

The main part of the deal, under which the state agreed on how, and
how much, religious groups should be compensated for their confiscated
property, was already agreed at the start of August, with the state
being faced with a Kč 59 billion bill to be paid out over 30 years and a
commitment to return 56 percent of confiscated property.

Churches and religious groups were major owners of real estate in
former Czechoslovakia before the Communist confiscations. Their assets
comprised buildings and thousands of hectares of farmland, forestry and
ponds.

The sizeable hand back of this property portfolio still remaining in
state hands and forming the assets of state-owned companies — such as
forestry company Lesy ČR, and the Czech Land Fund (PF ČR) — has been one
of the major hurdles to a deal in the past.

The main beneficiary of the property deal will be the Catholic
Church, which will get 80 percent of  compensation cash and property. 

The remaining 20 percent will be shared out  between other churches and
religious groups, such as the Baptists, Evangelicals, Hussites, Othodox
Church and the Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic.

The head of the Czech Catholic Church, Archbishop Dominik Duka,
described Thursday’s final deal, announced by Culture Minister Jiří
Besser (TOP 09), as “almost ideal.” 

The original proposal for a 20-year
transition period before the state cut all funding was shortened to 17
with payments petering out over the period starting in January 2013.

“For the first three years, the state will pay the full costs of
church wages and administration, that is around Kč 1.4 billion a year.
From the fourth year, the amount will be cut every year by 5 percent,”
Besser explained.

Political opposition

Although the church and state have finalized their deal, it still
needs to be approved by the two chambers of the Czech Parliament — and
that could torpedo the historic deal. 

The smallest government party,
Public Affairs (VV), has already come out against aspects of the
confiscation settlement and warns that it could vote against the deal if
the government makes further deep budget cuts to cover its costs.

VV also expressed strong reservations about the large amount of
property finally being handed back by to churches and religious groups. 

The two biggest opposition parties, the Social Democrats (ČSSD) and,
predictably, the Communists (KSČM) have come out resolutely against the
settlement.

The Czech Parliament helped block a previous settlement hammered out
by the center-right coalition of former Civic Democrat (ODS) prime
minister Mirek Topolánek. 

That deal — offering more cash but the return
of less property — was opposed by the lower house of parliament’s
committee dealing with the settlement. 

The government itself fell in
mid-2009 before the issue was put to parliament as a who with the follow
up caretaker government shunning the explosive issue.

Communist persecution

The Catholic Church and other religious groups were subject to
systematic persecution by the Communist regime, especially at the start
of the 1950s. 

The Vatican was viewed as a rival power base, with the
party seeking especially to undermine strong support for the church in
areas such as southern and eastern Moravia.

Top clergy were persecuted, in some cases tortured to death, and
subject to show trials with property confiscated once it became clear
that the Catholic Church would not fall in line with party demands. 

At
one stage the Communist Party even tried to create a rival church with
the help of a turncoat priest, Joseph Plojhar, who also at one stage
served as Health Minister.

In spite of the clear victimization, many Czechs, in what is one of
the most atheistic countries in Europe, have little sympathy for the
large sums of money and property that are heading back to the church and
religious groups. 

One survey suggested three quarters of Czechs why the
state should be compensating for confiscations carried out more than
six decades previously at a time when it is squeezing public spending.

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