Posted on 09/12/2006 7:43:15 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
(AP) BRATISLAVA, Slovakia Catholic bishops urged their faithful against supporting the registration of a Mormon church in Slovakia, saying that would be a betrayal of the Catholic Church.
Earlier this month, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had asked all Slovaks "who care about religious liberty" to sign a petition supporting its bid to set up a church. Slovak law requires 20,000 signatures for a church to be legally registered.
Slovak bishops released a statement, however, saying the Mormon church's doctrine was "not in line with the doctrine of the Catholic Church."
"We call on all Catholics ... not to sign this petition and not to betray the Catholic church," the bishops' statement said.
The Mormon church said Monday it was not looking for converts from Catholicism.
"We respect the decision of every citizen, and the petition was in no way meant to convert anybody to our faith," spokesman Petr Valnicek said. "Religious liberty is all we had in mind."
Slovakia, a central European country of 5.4 million, is predominantly Catholic.
There are only about 100 Mormons in Slovakia, and nearly 2,000 in the neighboring Czech Republic.
The Mormon church, based in Salt Lake City, claims more than 12 million members worldwide.
"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints respects the laws of each nation. In seeking legal recognition, church President Gordon B. Hinckley has said we "go through the front door," meeting all the requirements that governments expect of us," said Michael Otterson, a church spokesman.
"In this case, the church has appreciated working constructively with the government ministry responsible for such matters in the Slovak Republic. That nation, as a recent member of the European Union, is emphasizing more openness, democracy and freedom of religion, and the church is grateful to be a part of a process which will bless the lives of all its people."
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was founded in 1830 by Joseph Smith. The LDS Church acknowledges theological differences with the Catholic Church. Among the issues on which there is disagreement are the LDS Church's use of additional scripture such as the Book of Mormon and different interpretations of the Trinity, Otterson said.
**"We call on all Catholics ... not to sign this petition and not to betray the Catholic church," the bishops' statement said. **
The Eastern European countries (as I viewed them on my pilgrimage in June) are very Catholic. I didn't get the figures on Slovakia, but Poland is nearly 98% Catholic.
LOL. No, that would never happen. Not ever. We promise (said the scorpion to the frog).
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With all due respect, whom do they expect to convert, then?
And why not? We are looking for looking for Mormon converts after all. :)
Non-Catholics, apparently.
I wonder if there's a difference between a baptized, non-practicing Catholic and a baptized practicing Catholic.
As a Mormon, this statement appeared odd to me. Of course, we would be looking for converts from Catholicism. I think that statement must have referred only to people being asked to sign the petition, and the petition itself. If you read further, that makes sense.
Exactly. In a country that someone mentioned was 98% Catholic? Their statment is deceptive.
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respects this right in practice.There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom during the period covered by this report, and government policy continued to contribute to the generally free practice of religion.
According to the 2001 census, the number of persons who claimed a religious affiliation increased from 72.8 percent in 1991 to 84.1 percent in 2001. This increase may be in part due to greater willingness among persons to state their affiliation, unlike in 1991 immediately after the fall of communism. According to the census, there were 3,708,120 Roman Catholics (68.9 percent of the population), 372,858 Augsburg Lutherans (6.9 percent), 219,831 Byzantine Catholics (4.1 percent), 109,735 members of the Reformed Christian Church (2 percent), 50,363 Orthodox Christians (1 percent), and 20,630 members of Jehovah's Witnesses. There were also approximately 3,562 Baptists, 3,217 Brethren Church members, 3,429 Seventh-day Adventists, 3,905 Apostolic Church members, 7,347 Evangelical Methodist Church members, 3,000 Jews, 1,733 Old Catholic Church members, 6,519 Christian Corps in Slovakia members, and 1,696 Czechoslovak Husite Church members. According to the 2001 census, 12 percent of the population claimed no religious affiliation, and 2 percent were undecided. There were also some Muslims living in the country, primarily immigrants from Middle Eastern countries, international students, or Albanian immigrants. Estimates of the Muslim population vary from 300 to 3,000.
There are three categories of nonregistered religions that comprise approximately 30 groups: nontraditional religions (Ananda Marga, Hare Krishna, Yoga in Daily Life, Osho, Sahadza Yoga, Shambaola Slovakia, Sri Chinmoy, Zazen International Slovakia, Zen Centermyo Sahn Sah, Rosicrucians, and Raelians); the religious societies termed "syncretic" by the Government (Unification Church, the Church of Scientology, Movement of the Holy Grail, and the Baha'i Faith); and the Christian religious societies (The Church of Christ, Manna Church, International Association of Full Evangelium Traders, Christian Communities, Church of the Nazarenes, New Revelation, Word of International Life, Society of the Friends of Jesus Christ, Sword of Spirit, Disciples of Jesus Christ, Universal Life, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), Free Peoples' Mission, Presbyterian Church Emmanuel, and Brothers in Christ (Christadelphians)).
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According to polling data, the number of religious practitioners continues to increase following the fall of Communism, and approximately 54 percent of Catholics and 22 percent of Lutherans actively participate in formal religious services.
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Registration of religious groups is not required, but under existing law, only registered religious groups have the explicit right to conduct public worship services and other activities, although no specific religions or practices are banned or discouraged by the authorities in practice. Those that register receive government benefits, including subsidies for clergymen, office expenses, the right to visit and proselytize in prisons and hospitals, and access to public television broadcasting. Government funding also is provided to religious schools and to teachers who lecture on religion in state schools. The Government occasionally subsidizes one-time projects and significant religious activities, and registered religious groups are partly exempt from paying taxes and import custom fees. A religion may elect not to accept the subsidies.
There are currently 16 registered religious groups in the country; the last group to successfully register was the Apostolic Church in 2001.
To register a new religion, a group must submit a list of 20,000 permanent residents who adhere to that religion. Fourteen of the religions already established before the law passed in 1991 were exempt from this membership requirement. Although the Nazarene and the Muslim communities existed in the country prior to 1991, they were never properly registered and, therefore, were not given registered status under the 1991 law. Two additional religious groups have been allowed to register since 1991: the Jehovah's Witnesses and the New Apostolic Church. Leaders of a number of minority religious communities, in particular Muslims, smaller Protestant churches, the Hare Krishna community, and the Church of Scientology, have in previous years complained that they did not meet the membership requirement, which effectively barred them from obtaining registered status. Nonregistered religious groups may not build public places of worship or conduct legally valid religious ceremonies such as weddings. In 2000, the Muslim community in Bratislava purchased a plot of land with the hope of building an Islamic center. While they previously speculated that municipal officials were denying them permission for the construction, it appears that financial problems, zoning questions, and a lack of identifiable leadership in the Muslim community could have also affected the construction delay. Several of Bratislava's Muslims also criticized the registration law, noting that the community in the Czech Republic was able to submit an application for first-tier registration under Czech law (300 or more citizen member signatures).
Interesting. Although I doubt that we would be lining up for any government money. We have declined all government funding in this country, because it always comes with strings.
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I guess the LDS are just a pretty optimistic lot.
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A hopeful trend. Thanks for the info.
I wonder if anyone is familiar enough with Slovak to double check AP on the gist of the statement? I think this is it, first item posted on the bishop's national conference website.
Vyhlásenie Stálej rady Konferencie biskupov Slovenska k podpisovej akcii mormónov
V týchto dòoch prebieha na Slovensku sústredená petièná kampaò Cirkvi Ježiša Krista svätých posledných dní, tzv. mormónov, za ich registráciu. Zákon na Slovensku vyžaduje na registrovanie urèitej cirkvi 20-tisíc èlenov, ktorí sa k nej hlásia a požadujú jej registráciu.
Zástupcovia cirkvi mormónov oslovovali prípadných signatárov so žiados'ou, aby v duchu náboženskej slobody podpísali petíciu na jej zaregistrovanie. Upozoròujeme veriacich, že prípadným podpisom schva'ujú a podporujú èinnos' tejto náboženskej skupiny, ktorej uèenie nie je v súlade s uèením Katolíckej cirkvi.
Vyzývame všetkých katolíkov, aby tento fakt brali ako otázku vlastného svedomia, aby petíciu nepodpisovali a tak nezrádzali Katolícku cirkev, do ktorej boli krstom zaèlenení.
Stála rada KBS
Mons. František Tondra
Mons. Alojz Tkáè
Mons. Rudolf Baláž
Mons. Marián Chovanec
http://www.kbs.sk/?cid=1158038974
At first, I was disturbed when I read this, thinking it was very similar to Russian Orthodox attempts to kick the Catholic Church out of Russia. But then I read what I think is the bishops' issue: There are only 100 Mormons. The Mormons are out to claim 2,000 signatories. To sign the "petition" would be to swear witness to the fact that one is a Mormon, which would morally be apostasy. I think the Catholic bishops are trying to warn people not to commit apostasy in the misguided cause of permitting Mormons in.
I would presume the Mormon church was looking for converts among the atheists, if I didn't know better.
Another difference between Mormon prosyletism and Catholic outreach is significant here: The Catholic Church does not hold that the Orthodox Church is defective for salvation; Mormons, on the other hand, have been known (by me, personally) to evangelize by destroying incumbent faith. (In fairness, they are far from the worst. So many Protestant churches' "outreach" is purely an assault on Catholic beliefs and anti-Catholic straw-man fallacies.)
One point to make:
Notice that "Byzantine Catholics" and "Roman Catholics" are listed separately. "Roman Catholic" is a borderline misnomer, a epiphet that the Catholic Church chose not to fight because Church Fathers did historically call the Catholic Church "Roman." This was because it was recognized that the Church was NOT universal among the barbarians. Hence, Roman modified Catholic, making "Roman Catholic" mean "universal in the civilized world."
In English-speaking countries, however, "Roman" has come to simply mean a synonym for "popery," with the connection of the Catholic Church to Rome. This is a misleading use; the Vatican is deliberately outside of Rome, in exile until the second coming of Christ. (Hence, "Peter the Roman," at the end of St. Malachi's list of Popes, signifies that such a Pope would rule at the second coming.)
I believe what the State Department intends to do is contrast the Latin Catholic patriarchy from the Byzantine Catholic patriarchies. Alternatively, they could also be using Byzantine in a way alien to the Catholic Church to refer to the Eastern Orthodox religions. That would be even more problemmatic, however, since the Catholic Church uses the term, "Byzantine" to mean, specifically, to those Eastern patriarchs which are loyal to the Pope, and, hence, "Roman" Catholic.
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There does seem to be a difference between Catholics and Protestants in the approach each takes when posting on one of the religion threads.
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