Church, State Regulate Relations :: Charter'97 :: News

The Belarusian Orthodox Church submitted to the government the draft agreement, regulating the relations between the church and the state in the political, economic, spiritual and social spheres. “State’s cooperation with the church is a prerequisite of the public stability, civil unity and religious peace,” – reads the draft agreement of the Belarusian Orthodox Church, the copy of which was received by “Interfax”.

The text of the document further reads that the state “recognizes the church as the crucial cultural institute, while the church’s spiritual and cultural values as the basis for the Belarusian national idea”.
The agreement reads that the church treats the state as the necessary social institute, which is called to ensure public order, protect morality, spiritual and cultural values.
The state, in its turn, bounds itself with a commitment to recognize the material and moral damage, inflicted upon the church during the years of state atheism in the 20th century and to return to the church its objects of worship and spiritual literature, or otherwise to partially compensate the incurred material losses”.
The document will get signed in mid-February.