Parliament on Friday enacted the church law, a cardinal law which recognises 14 established congregations which is essentially the same law enacted in the summer but thrown out by the Hungary’s top court on procedural grounds.
The law was adopted with 256 votes in favour, 36 against.
Those religious communities which have lodged a request with the relevant minister to have their status as a recognised church maintained will not lose that status on Jan. 1, but parliament will make a related decision at the end of February.
Rules on what kind of religious activities qualify to make an organisation a church will change. From Jan. 1 an association must have at least 1,000 supporting signatures on a request delivered to a parliamentary religious affairs committee, which in turn promulgates the application to a plenary session of lawmakers. This is at variance with the law dismissed by the Constitutional Court, whereby the request was lodged with a minister charged with deciding on religious matters.
Among the conditions stipulated by the new law, a congregation must have either operated at an international level for the past 100 years or have been functioning as an organisation for at least 20 years in Hungary.
Do Hungarians go to church?
I guess that to receive the home loans from banks you must present a good reason. Nevertheless, once I’ve received a term loan, just because I was willing to buy a bike.