Relationship between Church and State in Yugoslavia; religion in the schools; expression of religious belief in public

Restrictions on religious practice vary greatly from republic to republic in Yugoslavia. [U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on :Human Rights Practices for 1988 (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1989), p. 1260.] Roman Catholicism is one of the largest faiths and its adherents are not subject to overt persecution, according to the U.S. Department of State. [Ibid.] Open practice, however, can bar access to high level official positions and Party members taking part in religious sacraments risk disciplinary action or expulsion from the Party. [Ibid.] The Catholic church has been accused of supporting Croatian nationalism and in the Republic of Croatia, the government perceives Catholicism as a threat to the Communist monopoly of power. [Fergus M. Bordewich, "Yugoslavia since Tito", The New York Times Magazine, April 13, 1986.] Similarly, the Serbian Orthodox Church has been accused by authorities of spawning nationalist sentiment among the Serbian community of Yugoslavia. [Ibid.] From all appearances, however, the government is "relatively tolerant of the practice of religion." [Ibid.] However, an Amnesty International publication on Yugoslav prisoners of conscience mentions that members and officials of the Roman Catholic church, the Serbian Orthodox Church and Moslem religion have been charged and detained for various offenses. [Amnesty International, Yugoslavia: Prisoners of Conscience (London: Amnesty International, 1985), p. 15.] The World Encyclopedia of Political Systems and Parties claims that unlike the Orthodox Christian and Muslim religions, the Roman Catholic hierarchy has been at odds with the Party and state since the beginning of the Communist period and has consistently collided with the authorities. [George E. Delury, World Encyclopedia of Political Systems and Parties Vol II (New York: Facts on File Publications, 1987), p. 1291.] Also according to this source, the Moslems in Yugoslavia are recognized by the Communists as an official nationality. [Ibid.]

Bibles and Korans are readily available and contacts with coreligionists abroad are extensive, although contacts between Yugoslav Muslims and Islamic fundamentalists abroad are viewed with suspicion by the authorities. [Op. cit., U.S. Department of State.] The Catholic Church maintains eight secondary schools, two theological faculties, and five seminaries in Yugoslavia. [Ibid., p. 1261.] The Orthodox and Moslem religions also operate theological colleges and high schools, but the degrees offered in religious institutions are not recognized by the government. [Ibid.] According to the U.S. Department of State, there are opportunities for religious instruction offered to the major faiths in both the secondary and university level of education. [Ibid.]

To update the information provided in these sources, the IRBDC contacted Mr. Kenneth Anderson who authored a report, to be released by the American Helsinki Watch Committee at the end of October 1989, on human rights conditions in Yugoslavia. Mr. Anderson's information can be summarized as follows. With regard to members of what one can call the "traditional" religions in Yugoslavia, it is difficult to separate religion from ethnicity. For example, Croats are in general Catholics, Serbs are Orthodox, Bosnians are Moslem, etc. Mr. Anderson stated that in cases of ill treatment, ethnicity and not religion is at issue. The situation is different, however, for "non-traditional" religions such as The Jehovah's Witnesses and Seventh Day Adventists. Members of these groups have been severely penalized, in Mr. Anderson's view, for their conscientious objection to compulsory military service. They also run afoul of the various restrictions on proselytizing, which are also mentioned in the U.S. Department of State report. [Ibid., p. 1260.] The information provided by Mr. Anderson cannot be corroborated in published sources by the IRBDC at the present time.

No further corroborating information on these topics is currently available to the IRBDC at the present time.