Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders in Slovakia have welcomed an amendment to the country’s religious liberty law that acknowledges the equality of all churches.

“We welcome this provision, because it reflects our position on the question of religious freedom,” says Emanuel Duda, president of the Adventist Church in Slovakia.  “It is praiseworthy that the state does not evaluate religions according to the number of its adherents, but measures all with the same measuring stick.”

The issue of equality of religious groups in Slovakia also came to the floor last month when the Slovak government signed a special agreement, or concordant, with the Vatican, securing the Roman Catholic Church special rights in the country. “In the original agreement proposed, there were some points that were unacceptable for non-Catholic churches,” says Duda.  “However, the new version of the agreement does not contain these points.”

Under the recently passed amendment to the religious liberty law, other churches can negotiate similar agreements, reports Duda, who adds that the Adventist Church is preparing a proposal.  If the proposal is accepted, Slovakia will be the third European country, after Poland and Italy, where such an agreement has been reached.