Abstract
Even today, some 20 years after Slovenia (previously a part of Yugoslavia) gained its independence and established its own state, the relationship between the state and the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) in Slovenia is defined in the same way as it was in the former socialist regime: from the top downwards, without public debate and with obsolete logic. During the final decades of socialism, the “dialog” between religious and non-religious parts of the population was only reserved for political and religious functionaries, and reduced to the monopolistic interests of two hierarchical organizations—the former Communist Party and the Roman Catholic Church—which self-understandingly shared their power over the souls of the citizens. Party and church representatives met at round tables, wherein participation was solely reserved for verified cadre, whereas independent intellectuals on both sides were excluded. Although the one-party system no longer exists in the current period of Slovenia’s independence, the previous ideological pattern seems to be persisting.
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Notes
For more on this, see: Srečo Dragoš, “Politizacija rimskokatoliške cerkve,” Socialno delo, 40, no. 1, 2001, pp. 13–28; Srečo Dragoš, “Islam in suicidalno podalpsko pleme,” Poročilo skupine o spremljanju nestrpnosti (Report of the Group on Monitoring Intolerance), no. 2, 2003, pp. 34–53;
S. Dragoš, “Džamija—katalizator slovenske nestrpnosti,” Dialogi 40, no. 1/2, 2004, pp. 20–34.
Matjaž Hanžek, “Črno-bela brezbrižnost?” Varuh, 9, July 2006, p. 1.
Niko Toš (ed.), Vrednote v prehodu II: slovensko javno mnenje1990–1998 (Ljubljana: Fakulteta za družbene vede, 1999).
See: Srečo Dragoš, “Staranje v luči socialnega kapitala (na Slovenskem),” Socialno delo, 39, no. 4–5, 2000, p. 248.
Niko Toš (ed.), Vrednote v prehodu IV: slovensko javno mnenje2004–2009 (Ljubljana: Fakulteta za družbene vede, 2009), p. 496.
Gregor Lesjak and Aleš Črnič, “O, Holy Simplicity! Registering a Religion in Slovenia,” Religion, State & Society, 35, no. 1, 2007, pp. 69–79.
S. Dragoš, “J. E. Krek—zamujena priložnost za RKC?” in A. Šelih and J. Pleterski, eds., Država in cerkev: izbrani zgodovinski in pravni vidiki (Ljubljana: Slovenska akademija znanosti in umetnosti, 2002), pp. 285–298.
For more, see: Janez Evangelist Krek, “Jakobinska svoboda,” Katoliški obzornik, IX, 1905, pp. 122–140;
J. E. Krek, Izbrani spisi, Vol. III (Ljubljana: Jugoslovanska tiskarna, 1925).
Compare: Srečo Dragoš, Katolicizem na Slovenskem: socialni koncepti do druge svetovne vojne (Ljubljana: Krtina, 1998).
A. Ocvirk, “Naš komentar,” Družina, 51, no. 17, 2001, p. 3.
For more details, see: Gregor Lesjak and Davor Lekić, “Država in verske skupnosti: kronika odnosov med letoma 2008 in 2011,” Teorija in praksa, 50, no. 1, 2013, pp. 154–171.
See: Srečo Dragoš and Vesna Leskošek, Družbena neenakost in socialni kapital (Ljubljana: Mirovni inštitut, 2003), pp. 21–40.
This pattern typically displays: a (nominal) Catholic majority, the dominant position of the CC, and its efficient resistance to reformation attempts, protestant churches, and the religious pluralization of society. This pattern includes Italy, Spain, Portugal, Latin American states (from Mexico and Cuba to Chile and Argentina), Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Slovakia, Ireland, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary; for more, see Marjan Smrke, Religija in politika: spremembe v deželah prehoda (Ljubljana: Znanstveno publicistični center, 1996), p. 50 ss.
For more on different models of separation or the distinction between the state and church—mainly relevant to Slovenian and former Yugoslav territories, see: Srečo Dragoš, “Cerkev/država: ločitev ali razločitev?” Teorija in praksa 38, no. 3, 2001, pp. 440–455; Srečo Dragoš, “Kam void zakon o verski svobodi,” Poročilo skupine o spremljanju nestrpnosti (Report of the Group on Monitoring Intolerance), no. 5, 2006, pp. 8–33; Marjan Smrke, Religija in politika, pp. 27–60;
M. Smrke, “Proselytism in Post-Socialist Slovenia,” Journal of Ecumenical Studies, 36, no. 1–2, 1999, pp. 202–220;
M. Kerševan, Cerkev, politika, Slovenci po letu 1990 (Ljubljana: Založba Enotnost, 1996);
Marko Kerševan, Svoboda za cerkev, svoboda od cerkve (Ljubljana: Sophia, 2005);
Miklós Tomka, “Tendencies of Religious Change in Hungary,” Archievs de Sciences des Religions, 65, no. 1, 1988, pp. 67–79;
Siniša Zrinščak, Sociologija religije: hrvatsko iskustvo (Zagreb: Pravni fakultet, 1999), pp. 51–60;
Zdenko Roter, Katoliška cerkev in država v Jugoslaviji 1945–1973 (Ljubljana: Cankarjeva založba, 1976), pp. 117–172.
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© 2014 Gorana Ognjenović and Jasna Jozelić
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Dragoš, S. (2014). The Separation between Church and State in Slovenia: A Political Fiasco. In: Ognjenović, G., Jozelić, J. (eds) Politicization of Religion, the Power of State, Nation, and Faith. Palgrave Studies in Religion, Politics, and Policy. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137477866_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137477866_8
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