Holy See and Serbia Sign Agreement to Promote Education

An agreement has been signed to promote educational collaboration between the Holy See and the Republic of Serbia, giving the Catholic Church of Serbia the rights related to higher educational institutions.

The framework agreement was signed today in Belgrade by Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States, on behalf of the Holy See, and by Ivica Dacic, Serbia's vice president and minister of the exterior.

The agreement confirms higher educational principles and how duties are to be arranged for the Holy See and Serbia.

In addition to noting its collaborative aspect, the agreement also recognizes a right given to the Catholic Church in Serbia. This right is to establish and direct institutions of higher education, both for ecclesiastical disciplines and other subjects of higher study.

Furthermore, the parties have undertaken to standardize questions regarding mutual recognition of academic qualifications and public documents attesting to higher instruction.

To implement this agreement, the two parties will subsequently stipulate related additional protocols, by which activities, as well as the organizational and financial conditions related to implementation, will be defined. 

Once all the requisites of the national legal systems of the two parties related to implementation have been fulfilled, the agreement will come into force on the date of receipt of the final information, by diplomatic means. (D.C.L.)