Latvian treaty with Holy See worries Lutherans

  • 2000-08-24
  • Nick Coleman
RIGA - The Latvian government's endorsement of an agreement with the Holy See has concerned Lutherans who fear they are being sidelined. But further changes will ensure "traditional" religions have an equal relation to the state, according to Latvia's justice minister. Smaller religious organizations are likely to be ignored.

The agreement with the Holy See provides for cooperation in culture and education and for provision of Roman Catholic chaplains in the armed forces, jails and prisons. It also recognizes the confidentiality of confessions made to priests by defendants or witnesses in court cases. The Catholic Church may annually submit a list of undertakings it believes to be of national importance, and therefore deserving of state funding. The agreement has still to be approved by Parliament.

Aglona Cathedral should benefit from official recognition as part of Latvia's cultural-historical heritage. A record-breaking 450,000 people visited the cathedral on August 14 for celebrations of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, according to Interior Ministry estimates.

Roman Catholic archbishop Janis Pujats welcomed the possibility of funding for restoration and maintenance of Catholic churches, saying they are architectural treasures. The concordat is no cause for concern among Lutherans, he said, although it demonstrates Roman Catholicism's strength as a world church.

"We have good relations with the Lutherans. The Catholic church is working side by side with Lutherans and Orthodox to unite the country in faith," said Pujats.

"We are celebrating the millennium together and on national holidays we come together for services."

Lutheran archbishop Janis Vanags' response to the concordat was double-edged. A willingness to address religious needs represents an improvement among the country's "fanatical" ruling parties, which, he said, had broken pre-election promises not to tax church property desperately in need of restoration.

"The concordat contains very good ideas. But these issues must be resolved not only with the Roman Catholics," Vanags said.

"We need specific laws for the Lutheran church giving Lutherans the same rights. Our work with street children and people suffering poverty is not supported by the state. Church repairs are taxed and we're blamed when the churches collapse. If Aglona needs financial help Riga's Dome Cathedral needs it more. 80 percent of its use is for state and public purposes, as a museum and for receiving foreign dignitaries."

Both archbishops dismissed paganism's claim to be the oldest religion in Latvia, perhaps deserving of "traditional" status. But Pujats acknowledged paganism's influence on local Catholicism.

"Natural forces are important themes in our services, robes and ornaments. Every nation sees God through its own eyes," he said.

"But revival of the old beliefs is impossible."

Vanags attributed a surge in enthusiasm for paganism, following the Soviet Union's collapse, to nationalist, rather than religious impulses.

"There is no unbroken pagan tradition here. Neo-paganism was created in the 1920s," he said. "It has no clear theology and is irrelevant now."

The Hare Krishnas, not classified by the state as "traditional", were recently refused permission to hold their Rathayatsa (chariot) festival in Riga, and therefore relocated to Majori in the Jurmala region, temple vice-president Bakhtiman said.

"The best we can hope for from the state is neutrality. We feed 1,000 meals of sweet porridge to Riga's poor every day. We'd like help," he said.