Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Astana (Agenzia Fides) - The proposal for a new Religion law offers an opportunity for the government as well as for all believers. What is needed is that that the laws be inforced, with freedom of conscience and fundamental rights for all citizens and religious communities. This was what was explained in a statement sent to Agenzia Fides from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Kazakhstan, commenting on the new “Religion Law” that the Parliament is now debating over and that will be subject to a final decision on the part of President Nursultan Narzabev by the end of 2008.
The Catholic Church is closely observing this part of the process. Archbishop Tomash Peta of Astana, President of the Bishops’ Conference, in a statement made to Fides, highlighted the Bishops’ hope “that freedom of conscious and Religion will be preserved according the spirit of the current law from 1992,” and “simultaneously appealed to the believers for prayer in order to protect the freedom of conscious and Religion in Kazakhstan.”
The Archbishop recalled that the first version of the proposal for the new bill was indeed very bad. The second version already got modified to the better, since they crossed out some of the bad points, but it is still not ideal of cause. Some examples of the bad points the proposal for the bill still contains are:
1. Religious Communities are obliged to account to the state for all their activities
2. Consent from both parents for under-aged children, which want to participate in the life of the Religious Community, is required
3. All Religious Communities are obliged to re-register, even though we know that a law can not be applied retrospectively
“I had the opportunity to point out this and some other imperfections of the proposal for the new bill. I personally am convinced that the final result of the discussion about the new Religion law will be a positive one,” the Archbishop told Fides.
In a recent conference on the theme of religious freedom in Central Asia, held in Almaty, the Church in Kazakhstan expressed its concerns because the first draft of the law included tight restrictions for worship and mission activities of the Church. The Catholic community has expressed its objections, trusting in the just and balanced debate in Parliament and the healthy relations between the Church and President Narzabaev.
The Catholic Church in Kazakhstan has nearly 200,000 members, out of a total population of 15 million people, the majority of whom are Muslim. According to analysts, Kazakhstan has decided to draft a new law on religion due to the fact that new groups of evangelicals are springing up without much legal control, as well as for the threat of Islamic fundamentalism. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 10/07/2008)
