ENI – The Czech Republic's Roman Catholic church is selling properties at cut prices in an effort to cope with plummeting congregations and donations.
“We don't have the money to keep them,” said Martin Horalek, spokesperson for the Catholic Bishops' Conference.
About 200 churches, monasteries and convents were returned to the Catholic Church in the 1990s, often in derelict condition, after they were seized following the 1948 imposition of communist rule.
The number of Czech Catholics declined from just above four to below three million people between 1991 and 2001.
“Too often, the impact of religious extremism on human affairs has hit the headlines in a very negative way,” said Archdeacon Colin Williams of the Conference of European Churches. “Rather, more attention needs to be given to the assiduous way in which churches and other faith groups have worked to promote within national, regional and international decision-making the values of justice and freedom and equality.”
