Institute for State-Church Relations

The Institute for State-Church Relations (Ústav pre vzťahy štátu a cirkví, UVSC) deals with interdisciplinary research of state-church relations, religiosity, churches and religious societies (CaRS), religious extremism, quasi-religious phenomena; by means of theoretical and analytic, informational and documentary, consulting, publishing and organizational activities in the field of both traditional and non-traditional religiosity, by systematic monitoring of the spiritual scene, UVSC intends to contribute to a non-confrontational dialogue and co-operation of the State with churches and religious societies. In accordance with the Recommendation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from 22 June 1999 (Illegal activities of sects), UVSC, as the only national, confession-neutral institution, has turned its attention to the potentially dangerous activities of some religious groups and orientations.

By regular monitoring as well as by field research, UVSC builds up an informational data bank that is continuously analysed and evaluated. A special library has been systematically built up. Gained knowledge is made accessible and spread in the form of expert opinions, standpoints, reviews, surveys, analytic studies and own specialized publications, and it serves for current requirements and deciding of central state authorities as well as for the co-operation with churches and religious societies, press and electronic media, and other subjects of similar orientation on both national and international level. UVSC provides lectures, organizes workshops, seminars, and conferences, gives consultations to university students, and offers counselling for victims of cults and their dependants.

We publish books dealing with issues of NRMs, cults and quasi-religious orientations (e.g. New Religiosity, Satanism, Islam in Context, The Phenomenon of a Spiritual Leader, Alternatives in Thinking, Science and Religion, The Religious Group as a Potential Source of Dependence, The Role of Sacred Texts in the Lived Religion, Europe and New Religious Movements I and II, Modern Religion I a II, Alternative Healing Methods Overlapping to Religions, New Age, Satanism – the Danger of Sectarian Abuse, etc.). These publications are available for sale in the institute seat.

UVSC provides lectures on NRMs for primary and secondary schools as well as universities, police and other institutions, and interested public, too.

Most Important Activities in 2008:

In 2008 we organized:

• seminar about the religion in Finland, with lectures presented by experts from our partner organization Church Research Institute in Tampere (2 Oct 2008 in Bratislava);
• seminar Pastoral Care for the Romanies (Gipsies) – to show the possibilities and problems, to find mechanisms of state support to pastoral and charitable activities among Romanies (15 Oct 2008 in Bratislava);
• seminar Dangerous Communities, Family, School and State – focused on movements striving, by means of alternative educational methods, to intrude into the school system in Slovakia (e.g. Kin´s School by Mikhail Petrovich Shchetinin, Waldorf Schools, etc.) – responding thus to the public demand and the endangering of the healthy development of children (12 Nov 2008 in Bratislava). We addressed relevant institutions and experts – psychologists, pedagogues, clergymen, social and educational workers and policemen – to participate and share opinions and experiences to the given topic.

In 2009 we published:

• Institute Yearbook 2007 – annual publishing project presenting our annual activity report, a review of significant events in the sphere of churches and religious communities, and papers on current topics, like e.g. religion and politics, value changes in the society, confessional education in Slovakia, legal status of churches in the educational system, Islamic terrorism and problems of regional security, MINAB activities in Great Britain, etc.
• Women and Religions II – the second volume of the publication output of a three-year project, started in 2006, having analysed the status of women in the mainstream religious traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, not excepting African, Afro-American, Shintoist, and Bahaist traditions, and contemporary trends in their status, monitored their doctrines and practice concerning women, both the real and the proclaimed relation to women at present and in the past illustrated on actual cases. This project should help to remove violence on women and discrimination of women in the society pointing out negatives and positives in various religions. The project output comprises two consecutive bilingual publications (in Slovak and English): Women and Religions I and II (published in 2007 and 2008, respectively).
• State-Church Relations in Europe – Contemporary Issues and Trends at the Beginning of the 21^st Century – conference proceedings in two language versions (English and Slovak) of the homonymous international conference, which we organized in Bratislava under the auspices of the minister of culture of the SR in November 2007, dealing with legislative regulation of state-church relations, respect for religious freedom, interreligious dialogue and Islam in Europe. The conclusions should serve the State authorities at making decisions about the trends of the church policy in Slovakia. The conference dealt also with the status of religious minorities in several countries and the relation of the major religions to them.

Most Important Activities in 2009:

In 2009 particular attention has been paid to religious extremism and terrorism – all forms of discrimination, racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and other manifestations of intolerance. UVSC focuses on systematic education of specialists active in the field of prevention, consulting for state authorities and other institutions concerning extremism with religious elements, anti-Semitism, and xenophobia. We cooperate with the Police Headquarters and the Ministry of Interior. The Deputy Director of UVSC is member of the multidisciplinary integrated group of experts at the Ministry of Interior dealing with elimination of racially motivated criminal activity and extremism.

In 2009 we again offered lectures, workshops and seminars dealing with dangerous impact of cult activities for schools, churches, police, and general public – in Bratislava, as well as in other Slovak cities.

In 2009 we organized:

• international conference Financing Churches and Religious Societies in the 21st Century, in which more than 50 experts in the field participated from over 20 countries from almost all continents (14-16 Oct 2009, Bratislava and Nitra);
• seminar Religious Routs of Right Extremism aimed at information and experience exchange, definition and prevention of right extremism. Experts, policemen, social and educational workers, psychologists, pedagogues, clergymen from registered C&RS, confronted by the right religious extremism, took part in this workshop (22 Oct 2009 in Bratislava).
• workshop series called Bratislava Dialogues about Religion – aimed at better information of interested public on the issue of religious minorities, having pretensions to contribute to the interreligious dialogue. We held four such seminars: on the model of financing of the Catholic Church in Slovakia (May), on the Children of God – joined with the projection of a documentary The Children of God Rediscovered (May), a lecture on extremism and its symbolism presented by an expert from the Historical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (May), presentation of the activities of the Bahai Community in Slovakia and the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints – the latest registered CaRS in Slovakia – given by their representatives (October).

In 2009 we published:

• Clara pacta – boni amici: Contractual Relations between State and Churches – publication output of a two-year homonymous project presenting the relations between the State as an institution and churches or religious societies in the SR as compared with the situation in other countries (May 2009). This project also deals with issues of interaction of various legal systems, the European Law, international (public) law, domestic law, and Canon law. It is a bilingual publication – Slovak and English. Consequently we organised an international seminar in cooperation with the Law Faculty of the University in Trnava, where experts from Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Italy took part (1 June 2009).
• Institute Yearbook 2008, presenting our activities in 2008, church-political events of 2008, and articles dealing with current issues, as e.g.: excommunication of the “Lefebvrist” bishops; state of religious freedom in Slovakia; relation of the Church to the Non-Christian religions from the point of view of Salvation; translation of Koran from Arabic into Slovak; the Slovak Pentecostalism; Resurrection as a religious phenomenon in the context of Shri Chinmoy´s teachings, etc.
• Dangerous Communities, Family, School and State – proceedings from the homonymous seminar held in Bratislava in November 2008.
• Pastoral Care for the Romanies (Gipsies) – proceedings of the homonymous seminar held on 15 Oct 2008 in Bratislava.

Publication offer

The Institute Staff

ThLic. Michaela Moravčíková

Director of the Institute for State-Church Relations

she deals with

• problems of human rights,
• problems of religious liberty, financing churches and religious societies,
• development of state-church relations in the Slovak Republic and world-wide.

michaela.moravcikova(@)duch.sk

Eleonóra Valová, M.A.

• deals with documentary work of selected foreign special periodicals
• administers the agendum of foreign contacts of the Institute
• translates and processes foreign language documents and materials
• compiles and edits the Institute annuals, collections of papers presented at conferences organised by the Institute, and other special publications of the Institute

eleonora.valova(@)duch.sk

Miroslav Lojda, M.A.

• deals with advisory work for victims of sects, cults and their relatives
• deals with problems of mental manipulation
• deals with relationships of the state to sects, cults and new religious movements in Europe and world-wide
• does lecture activity

miroslav.lojda(@)duch.sk

Lucia Grešková, PhD.

• graduated in political science at the Philosophical Faculty of the Comenius University in Bratislava
• deals with new religiosity, specialising in religious extremism and new religious movements coming out of Christianity and occultism
• co-author of the publication "Duchovná scéna na Slovensku" (The Spiritual Stage in Slovakia)

lucia.greskova(@)duch.sk

Silvia Jozefčiaková, M.A.

• graduated at the Faculty of Political Sciences and International Relations, University of Matej Bel, Banská Bystrica
• deals with problems of state-church concordats

Ladislav Tomáň, M.A.

lawyer

Contact

Director:	Dr. Michaela Moravčíková
Phone:	+ 421-(0)2-2046 8406, 2046 8402
Fax:	+ 421-(0)2-2046 8406
Postal address:	Jakubovo námestie 12 P. O. Box 57 810 00 Bratislava 1 SLOVAKIA
E-mail:	uvsc@duch.sk
Website:	http://www.duch.sk

Updated on May 13, 2003 by Eleonóra Valová, M. A., Institute for State-Church Relations.