Report: Romania minority religious cults are financially discriminated

Marţi, 8 aprilie 2008, 20:11 English | Bucharest

Cults and religious associations are financially discriminated against in Romania, human rights organization APADOR-CH representatives said on Tuesday. APADOR-CH compiled a report regarding money received by all religious cults and associations in Romania. According to the report, some 19 million euro were destined for such purposes but due to the lack of transparency within the administration, the money cannot be traced to determined exactly where it went.

Moreover, the organization reached the conclusion that the principle of proportionality, stipulated in Law 489 of 2006 on religious freedom and the general regime of cults, is not respected. According to the NGO statistics, some 80% of the money went to the Orthodox church, 6% to the Greek-Catholic one, over 5.5% to the Reformed church and 4% to the Catholic one.

NGO representatives recommend more transparency within the administration so that people can access the funds more easily. Moreover, the principle of proportionality should be re-calculated, since the Orthodox church receives too much while others receive insufficient funds.