Czech Religious Money

From Yahoo News:
"Czech govt OKs landmark religious compensation law"

Churches were seized, priests jailed or executed and those who were still allowed to lead religious services did so under the watchful eye of the secret police. More than 22 years after the fall of Communism, the Czech government agreed Wednesday to pay billions of dollars in compensation for property seized by the former totalitarian regime. But even in a country where indifference to religion is strong, the compensation plan — to be spread over 30 years — proved to be a win-win situation. The government will no longer have to pay the priests' salaries and religious groups will finally get some compensation after several previous attempts had failed. Under the plan, the country's 17 churches, including Roman Catholic and Protestant, would get 56 percent of their former property now held by the state — estimated at 75 billion koruna ($3.7 billion). They would also get 59 billion koruna ($2.9 billion) in financial compensation paid to them over the next 30 years, and the state will gradually stop covering their expenses over the next 17 years. It all harks back to 1948, when the Communists seized power in the small central European nation then named Czechoslovakia. The Communists confiscated all the property owned by churches and persecuted many priests. Churches were allowed to function only under the state's strict control and supervision and priests' salaries were paid by the state. After the 1989 Velvet Revolution brought in democracy, some churches and monasteries were returned, but the churches have since sought to get back other assets such as farms, woodlands and buildings. Czechoslovakia then split into Slovakia and the Czech Republic in 1993.

^ It seems the Czech Republic is trying to make up for what the Czech Communists did from 1948-1989. Countries in Eastern Europe need to look at their pasts and do more to make up for the mistakes that the Communists did. It has been 20 years and there are still many areas that need to be addressed. Some countries (such as the Czech Republic) are actively working to resolve many of the areas while others (such as Belarus) are trying to forget their past and at the same time keep their authoridarian rule. ^

http://news.yahoo.com/czech-govt-oks-landmark-religious-compensation-law-