A national tragedy

Not that the Catholic Church has been completely absent during the former coalition, yet the new government with a certain emphasis on christian oriented ' objectives'  has given it a renewed impetus to re-establish its hold on society. Not in the least, the slip of the tongue of coalition partner leader Ján Figeľ by referring to a Vatican Agreement, was not just a mere Freudian error.

This morning, although intended to have a relaxed weekend off; while the temperatures were still low spring was in the air. However, two articles somewhat disrupted this weekend bliss. The first article by Oľga Pietruchová as a response to an ongoing discussion regarding sex education. Ms Pietruchová, a leading activist on women issues among others, justly holds up a mirror against the generally used shallow argumentation of the overly conservative catholic clergy. Her article clearly summons up the nonsensical arguments, why the church should finally stop repetitively interfering in state school curricula, and her references to biblical passages to prove her point are thorough and relevant. Albeit that the article may sound provocative, having experienced a number of discussions myself, I know the feeling where one cannot help to become a bit sarcastic.

The disturbing part is, that the reactions which follows are - to say the least - scary. It sadly shows, how utterly un-informed society seems to be. But that would not be all:

Another article by Miroslav Kocúr reflects e.g. on two very recent developments, where a member of the clergy in a pastoral letter openly criticizes so called 'anti-religious' elements for hindering the beatification of a local priest. The fact that the said priest was openly collaborating with the Nazis during WWII, whereas in the other instance the municipality of Rajec wants to honour a fascist official with a statue. Equally, the fascist element is none of the concern of the involved activists. Here as well, the discussions around the said issues would raise your eyebrows, where openly proclaimed anti-Semitic remarks are not too uncommon.

There is a painful tragedy here; too many - and I could fully believe that it is purely a matter of ignorance, rather than intended ideological conviction - seem to have too little awareness regarding the historical dimensions of their past. Being proud of your origin is fine, glorifying a fascist period is dangerous. Even the more, when the Catholic Church becomes a tool in providing them the pseudo-intellectual ammunition.

Slovakia - despite an explicit constitutional reference - does not fully recognize a separation between state and church. And a Catholic Church supporting fascists is perhaps not a new given, but in a 2011 European Union this is out of the question. Simply unacceptable.