Fila, Filip (2025) Rethinking the churches’ place in society: the parliamentary debate on church property restitution in the Czech Republic. Religion and society in Central and Eastern Europe, 18 (1). pp. 25-40. ISSN 1553-9962
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Abstract
IN ENGLISH: In order to fill a gap in the literature and illustrate what a public debate on religion might look like in a country as unchurched as the Czech Republic, this article consists of a thematic content analysis on a parliamentary debate related to church property restitution. Transcripts of the debates in the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic on the 2012 Church Property Restitution Bill were used to answer theoretically and empirically informed questions pertaining to secularization. The main finding was that it was not necessarily religion but rather matters of finance, legality, and procedure that figured most prominently in the debate. Despite this, closer analysis revealed some relevant reflections on religion, most notably on what sort of relation churches and religious communities should have with the state. The main takeaway from the research is that Members of Parliament acknowledged low individual-level religiosity and did not promote something resembling the concept of vicarious religion. These speeches were overall interpreted to be more in line with advocating secularization rather than desecularization. ------------- IN CROATIAN: Kako bi se popunila praznina u postojećoj literaturi i prikazalo kako javna rasprava o religiji može izgledati u zemlji koja je nereligiozna poput Češke Republike, ovaj članak provodi tematsku analizu sadržaja parlamentarnih rasprava vezanih za povrat crkvene imovine. Transkripti rasprava u Zastupničkom domu Parlamenta Češke Republike o Zakonu o restituciji crkvene imovine iz 2012. godine korišteni su kako bi se odgovorilo na teorijski i empirijski utemeljena pitanja koja se odnose na sekularizaciju. Glavni je nalaz da u raspravama nisu nužno dominirala pitanja religije, nego ponajprije pitanja financija, zakonitosti i procedura. Unatoč tomu, detaljnija analiza otkrila je relevantna promišljanja o religiji, ponajprije o tome u kakvom bi odnosu crkve i vjerske zajednice trebale biti s državom. Glavni zaključak istraživanja je da su češki zastupnici uvažili nisku razinu religioznosti građana te da nisu zagovarali nešto nalik konceptu zastupničke (vicarious) religije. Govori su sveukupno protumačeni kao bliži zagovoru sekularizacije nego desekularizacije.
| Item Type: | Article |
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| Additional Information: | Language: English. - Title in Croatian: Preispitivanje položaja crkava u društvu: parlamentarna rasprava o povratu crkvene imovine u Češkoj Republici. |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Secularization, church property restitution, Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, Church Property Restitution Bill (sekularizacija, povrati imovine crkvama, Zastupnički dom Parlamenta Češke Republike, Zakon o restituciji crkvene imovine) |
| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HM Sociology |
| Depositing User: | Karolina |
| Date Deposited: | 16 Dec 2025 21:41 |
| Last Modified: | 30 Dec 2025 10:25 |
| URI: | http://idiprints.knjiznica.idi.hr/id/eprint/1259 |
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