Hungary

New Report of UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Nazila Ghanea, on the Freedom of Religion in Hungary

Balázs Schanda

Poland

Changes in the System of Religious Education

The religious education system in Poland has been considered well-consolidated. The 1997 Polish Constitution expressly allows religion (of a church or other legally recognized religious organizations) to be taught in schools (Article 53, para. 4), and the 1991 Act on the School Education System obliges public kindergartens and schools to organize religious education at the request of parents or even students (depending on their age). As for Catholicism, similar provisions can be found in the 1993 concordat.

A prominent feature of the Polish provisions for religious education—simultaneously an obvious failing—is that the Education Minister’s regulation determines the organization of religious classes. So far, however, this setup has not undermined the overall system’s stability (although, obviously, it has also been criticized). The relevant ministerial regulation (issued on 14 April 1992) has been in force for over thirty years (with some minor amendments). Nonetheless, today, Poland is increasingly becoming a forum for challenging established compromises.

On 26 July 2024, the Minister of Education (Barbara Nowacka) in Donald Tusk’s government (established after the former opposition’s 2024 electoral victory) issued a regulation amending the one implemented on 14 April 1992. This happened despite significant protests by the Catholic bishops and the Polish Ecumenical Council (the inter-ecclesiastical organization comprising seven non-Catholic Christian churches).

The changes introduced by the 2024 regulation made it legal to form large inter-class groups (of up to 28 students) for religious instruction and even allowed the grouping of students from different grades (in primary school, it is now allowed to group students of classes I–III, IV–VI and VII and VIII). Before the amendment, religious instruction had been organized within a given class if at least seven students had expressed interest.

In response to the amendments, the authorities of the Catholic Church and the Polish Ecumenical Council made efforts to ensure that the regulation conforms to the higher-ranking provisions examined by the Constitutional Court. On 27 November 2024, the Court declared the regulation illegal and unconstitutional for procedural reasons (Appl. no. U 10/24). The main point of reference for the Court was Article 12, para. 2 of the School Education System Act; while this act authorizes the Minister of Education to determine the organization of religious classes in schools, it obliges them to act “in agreement with the authorities of the Catholic Church, the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church, and other churches and religious organizations”. In fact, the Minister had allowed church authorities to express their opinions on the regulation, but no agreement had been reached.

The judgment of the Constitutional Court did not end the dispute. The government declared it as non-existent (similar to other judgments of this court, which the government considers improperly staffed). However, there is no other institution to preside over such cases in Poland. Further, in the autumn of 2024, the Minister of Education started to work on a second amendment to the 1992 regulation following the same mode of operation: churches and other religious organizations were consulted but without an intent to reach a consensus. The new regulation, dated 17 January 2025, is to be enforced from 1 September 2025, and the changes to be introduced are much more serious than the previous ones. The number of lessons for religious education is to be reduced by half (from two hours a week to just one), and these are to be organized only in the first or last hour of the school day (an exception can only be made if all students from a particular class participate in the teaching of religion or ethics; but this is a rare situation, as students are not obliged to choose between religion and ethics and may not be willing to participate in any of these classes).

It can be expected that the Churches (the Catholic Church in the first place) will try to block the enforcement of the regulation this time. If they do not succeed, it is likely that, in the near future, in many schools, especially in large cities, there will be no religious instruction or that religion will only be taught in uncomfortable conditions, i.e., in groups bringing together pupils from different classes and levels. This will also necessitate significant reductions in the number of religious teachers.

Piotr Stanisz

Spain

Recognition of the Bahá’í Community

A significant recent development is the official recognition of the Deep-Rooted Presence of the Bahá’í Community in Spain. This status carries important implications, such as the formal recognition of Bahá’í marriages.

Catholic Church Renounces Certain Tax Benefits

In March 2023, the Catholic Church in Spain voluntarily renounced certain tax exemptions, including those related to the Tax on Constructions (ICIO) and special contributions (Contribuciones Especiales). More details can be found in the official announcements:

• Government Press Release
• Conference of Bishops Statement

Proposed Reform of the Patronage Law

A reform of Spain’s Law on Patronage is currently under discussion in Parliament. One proposed amendment would extend tax benefits under this law to all religious groups with Deep-Rooted Presence status, not just those with a formal Cooperation Agreement.

Relevant Books & Resources:

• Martínez-Torrón, J., "Adjusting general legal rules to freedom of conscience: the Spanish approach", Revue des Droits des Religions 7/2019, pp. 131-151.
• Palomino Lozano, R., "Legal Protection of the Seal of Confession in Spanish law", Ephemerides Iuris Canonici, Vol. 6, 2/2021, Marcianum Press, pp. 565-596.
• Torres Gutiérrez, A., "Legal Status of religious minorities in Spain. The same fundamental right with different regulatory scenarios", in M. Ventura (Ed.), The Legal Status of Old and New Religious Minorities in the European Union. Proceedings of the XXXth Annual Conference (Siena, 15-17 November 2018), Granada, Comares, 2021, pp. 165-182.
• Torres Gutiérrez, A., "Tax Law, and Religion in Spain," in M. Rodríguez Blanco (Ed.), Taxation, Religions and Philosophical and Non-Confessional Organisations in Europe. Proceedings of the XXXIst Annual Conference (Luxembourg, 14-16 November 2019), Granada, Comares, 2023, pp. 207-224.

Alejandro Torres Gutiérrez

Sweden

New Act on Subsidies to Religious Communities

In 2024, Swedish Parliament approved a new Act on Subsidies to Religious Communities. The new act came into effect on 1 January 2025. The religious communities already eligible for state subsidies according to the previous act have time until 31 March 2025 to fulfill the new provisions. Both the former and the new act give minority religious communities the possibility to receive state subsidies. The majority church, the Lutheran Church of Sweden, receives no subsidies of this kind.

The new act contains a new definition of a religious community. Where the former act described it as a community with “divine services” as its purpose, the new act has broadened the definition to include “prayer, meditation, and other rituals.” In practice, though, this broader definition was also used earlier.

The most important change introduced by the new act is a more specified democratic requirement regarding the religious communities that apply for subsidies. This provision also seems to have been the political reason for creating a new act. There have been discussions aiming at the fact that religious communities that do not respect the democratic society may have received state subsidies.

The new provision states that no subsidies will be granted to a religious community which—or any of its congregations, representatives, or representatives of a congregation—exercises violence, constraint, or threat against a person or in any other way violates a person’s basic freedoms and rights, discriminates persons or groups of persons or in any other way breaks the principle of all human being’s equal rights, defends, promotes, or requests such behavior, or opposes the democratic rule of law. Even though a religious community may be granted state subsidies for special reasons. When judging, it should be considered whether the religious community has distanced itself from the behavior, acted adequately to ensure that the behavior will not be repeated, if it is an occasional act, and if the act happened a long time ago.

There is also a new provision stating that a religious community will not receive state subsidies if it has debts for taxes or fees by the Enforcement Authority.

According to the former act, the government decided which religious communities were eligible for state subsidies. These decisions will now be taken by the Agency for Support to Faith Communities. Appeals against decisions by the agency are handled in the administrative courts.

Discussion Over Quran Burning as a Crime of Incitement

Another matter, partly about the religious minorities, regards the crime incitement against a group of people. In 2022, Sweden applied for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) membership. To receive membership, Sweden needed to have none of the NATO member states have a veto. Quite soon, it became obvious that Turkey had objections against Sweden. Turkey probably had several reasons for its opinion. One of these was, however, that Muslims were not properly accepted in Swedish society. Swedish groups that opposed the Swedish NATO membership exploited this Turkish opinion. The Quran was publicly burnt several times.

The matter of Quran burning and the crime of incitement against a group of people was widely discussed. The Prosecution Authority initially believed that Quran burning was not a crime. Other people opposed it, arguing that the Supreme Court had regarded wearing Nazi symbols as incitement against a group of people. The matter is still being discussed, but in 2024, some local court verdicts considered Quran burning a crime. The cases are, however, still handled by higher courts.

As an effect of the Quran burnings, the government started an investigation concerning the amendment of the Act of Public Order. In 2024, a new proposal was presented that would make it possible to ban demonstrations and other public manifestations that threaten Swedish national security. The government has so far not made any decisions on the matter.

Lars Friedner