Description of the event
The dissemination event was an international conference, where I presented the results of my research within the framework of the Central European Professors’ Network coordinated by the Ferenc Mádl Institute of Comparative Law.
The conference ̶ Actual Topics of State Ecclesiastical Law ̶ twas held online via MS Teams on the 16th of November 2021 at the Faculty of Law of Trnavas University.
It has been organised by the Institute For Legal Aspects of Religious Freedom of the Faculty of Law of Trnavas University, in cooperation with the following professional and research workplaces: Department of Public and Constitutional Church Law of the Faculty of Law, Church Law and Administration at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Institute for Religion Law and State-Church Relations at the Uzhhorod National University of Uzhhorod and Department of Church History and Church Law of the Sts Cyril and Methodius Faculty of Theology at the Palacký University of Olomouc.
The international scientific conference was held within the solution of the scientific project VEGA 1/0170/21 „International Legal Obligations of the Slovak Republic in the Field of Financing the Catholic Church“, led by the Institute For Legal Aspects of Religious Freedom of the Faculty of Law of Trnavas University.
Due to health measures, the conference was held online. My contribution was an extended part of the chapter which I processed into a collective monograph.
Programme of the event
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Oleksandr Bilash, J.C.L., Faculty of Law at the Uzhhorod National University of Uzhhorod, and ThLic. Mgr. Michaela Moravčíková, Th.D., Faculty of Law of Trnavas University: The Current Debate on Draft Law on Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine (Concerning Harmonization of Legislation in the Sphere of Prevention and Counteraction of Discrimination with the Law of the European Union),
Dr Agnieszka Romanko, Faculty of Law, Canon Law and Administration at the John Paul II Catholic University in Lublin: Obowiązki i cele Kościoła i Państwa uwarunkowane ich niezależnością i autonomią (Duties and Objectives of the Church and State Ensuing from their Independence and Autonomy),
Mirosław Sitarz, Faculty of Law, Canon Law and Administration at the John Paul II Catholic University in Lublin: Realizacja prawa do duchowych dóbr Kościoła w czasie pandemii w Polsce (The Exercise of the Right to the Spiritual Goods of the Church in Poland during the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic)
Paweł Bucoń, Faculty of Law, Canon Law and Administration at the John Paul II Catholic University in Lublin: Prawne aspekty zawarcia małżeństwa w formie wyznaniowej w Polsce (Legal Aspects of Marriage in a Denominational Form in Poland)
Damián Němec, Sts Cyril and Methodius Faculty of Theology at the Palacký University in Olomouc and the Faculty of Law of Trnavas University: Legal Regulation of the Use of Religious Clothing in the Public Sphere in the Czech Republic in the Light of the Case of a Muslim Student versus Secondary School.
Abstract of singular papers of the event
Oleksandr Bilash and Michaela Moravčíková
The bill of the Law on amendments to certain legislative acts of Ukraine (concerning harmonization of legislation in the sphere of prevention and counteraction of discrimination with the law of the European Union) is considered very controversial.
It has been criticised by some civil organisation, but also by orthodox churches in Ukraine, especially regarding the expression of Christian morals in public (and in the churches too) and the education of children and young people. Another controversial issue is the ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, better known as the Istanbul Convention. The Ukraine parliament has not given consent to the ratification yet, mainly because of religious aspects of this issue, especially because of the resistance of orthodox churches toward gender ideology. It is difficult to expect the outcome of this value dispute within the Ukrainian population. Its solution is significantly delayed by practical problems regarding the COVID-19 epidemic, so it is currently not on the agenda.
Agnieszka Romanko
According to the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et spes, the Catholic Church and the political community in their own fields are autonomous and independent from each other. Respect for the mutual independence and autonomy of the Church and State is a guarantee of the normal relationships between the Church and the political community.
Mirosław Sitarz
Human rights, which are vested with both the citizens of the state and the faithful of the Church, are rooted in the inherent and inalienable dignity of the person. In all circumstances, especially in a pandemic, the institutions of Church and State, which are there to serve people, should guarantee, through their representative bodies, that these rights be exercised. The article discusses the legal basis of Christ’s faithful’s rights to the spiritual riches of the Church and the scope of exercising these rights, as well as addressing the scope of enjoyment of the right to the spiritual riches of the Church in Poland during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Paweł Bucoń
The possibility to solemnise marriage in a religious ceremony in Poland is an expression of future brides’ and grooms’ autonomy in the sphere of exercising the freedom of religion. The right to choose the form of a wedding ceremony is treated as the exercising of religious freedoms of individuals in relation to their membership in a given religious community. Religious marriage ceremonies may be applied if a ratified international agreement or an act governing the relations between the state and the church or other religious unions provide the possibility to solemnise marriage in a ceremony governed by internal regulations of the church or another religious union with the same legal effect as in the case of a civil ceremony before Superintendent Registrars. A marriage celebrated in a religious ceremony of the Catholic Church with the effect under secular law is possible in Poland since the entry into force of the Concordat between the Holy See and the Republic of Poland (15 November 1998). The author’s intention is to provide insight into substantial issues related to the said practice.
Damián Němec
The paper deals with the issue of wearing religious clothes in public spaces in the Czech Republic. It describes the legal regulation or restriction of the right of this way of exercising religious freedom in three areas: photographs on personal documents, covering the face at public assemblies, and wearing religious clothes in schools. In the third area, it comments in detail on the case of a Muslim student against a medical secondary school. It shows that the wearing of religious clothing is very little regulated in the Czech Republic and is restricted to very few specific areas.
Propagation of the event
The conference is published among the announced events of the Faculty of Law of Trnavas University. ̶ http://podujatia.iuridica.truni.sk/.
Damián Němec