New Hungarian Law Strips Registration from Churches

By Joseph DeCaro, Worthy News Correspondent

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (Worthy News)– The European Court of Human Rights recently ruled that a Hungarian law had violated the rights of churches and other religious groups by stripping them of their state registrations, according to Barnabas Aid.

The court ruled that under the European Convention on Human Rights — which guarantees the right of assembly and association and freedom of thought, conscience and religion — Hungary’s Church Act had indeed violated the rights of many religious communities.

Hungary had introduced the Church Act two years ago as part of changes to its constitution. As a result, only 14 religious groups retained their state registrations while more than 300 other groups — including the Episcopal and Methodist denominations as well as every branch of Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism — lost their tax exemptions and subsidies.

The Church Act was originally crafted to address the exploitation of state funds by groups registered as religions that were not necessarily “religious”. But the court claimed that there were less drastic solutions to the abuse of state subsidies than de-registering entire applicant communities.

Many of Hungary’s religious communities claimed they had been discriminated against because of their minority status. For any religious community to be recognized under the Church Act, it had have a minimum membership and a documented duration of operation, but both requirements were deemed excessive by the court.

Lift this up in Prayer

13

people are currently praying.

Latest Worthy News

Fair Use Notice:This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Books by George Whitten

Identity in Messiah Revealed https://identityinmessiah.com

A devotional journey calling believers out of self-doubt and into confident, Kingdom-rooted identity in the Messiah.

Get it on Amazon

The Biblical Fall Feasts Revealed https://biblicalfallfeasts.com

An in-depth look at the Biblical fall feasts and their prophetic significance for believers today.

Get it on Amazon