Yesterday, the Holy See and Hungary signed an agreement modifying the 1997 Concordat on the financing of the public service and religious activity in Hungary of the Catholic Church, as well as on several issues of a financial nature. The agreement was signed at the Hungarian parliament in Budapest.
The agreement was signed on behalf of the Holy See by Archbishop Alberto Bottari de Castello, Apostolic Nuncio to Hungary. Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjen signed on behalf of Hungary.
The agreement modifies and updates the existing concordat of June 20th, 1997, in the context of new legislation linked to the Basic Law of Hungary, promulgated on April 25th, 2011.
The legislation regulates various financial issues regarding the teaching of religion in schools, Catholic higher education institutions, the restoration and conservation of religious patrimony of monuments and works of art owned by ecclesiastical bodies, the destination of a portion of tax to the Catholic Church, and the income of ex-ecclesiastical real estate not recorded in the appendix to the 1997 agreement.
The Agreement, which consists of seven articles and three appendices, will come into force upon the filing of the instruments of ratification.
