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PANAJI: Goa Commissioner for NRI Affairs Eduardo
Falerio has said that the existing law in Goa regulating
the relations between the Church and the State should be
modified as had been done in the Portugal.
Mr. Faleiro, former External Affairs Minister, was
speaking at a conference on “Should there be a law to
protect the properties of the Church?” organised by the
All India Catholic Union (Goa) and Goa Cultural and
Social Centre at the Goa International Centre near here
on Tuesday.
K.T. Thomas, former judge of the Supreme Court,
delivered the keynote address on the subject.
“This law was enacted during the Salazar’s dictatorship
and had been repealed in the Portugal on the ground that
it was unconstitutional and violated the democratic
constitution that came into force in Portugal in 1974,
post the Salazar regime,” Mr. Faleiro said.
However, any such change in the law regulating
Church-State relationsshould, however, be done in
consultation with the church authorities and with their
cooperation, he said. He said the present law, which
regulated relations between the Church and the State as
well as administration of Church properties, was created
by the Concordata or treaty signed between the Holy See
(Vatican) and the Portuguese Government in 1940.
Giving the background of the law and its functioning,
Mr. Faleiro said that the Church authorities in Portugal
supported the repeal of the Concordata of 1940 and
alleged that it was also against the letter and spirit
of the Vatican II Council. The Concordata of 1940 was
then repealed and substituted by the Concordata of 2004.
In furtherance of the Concordata of 2004, two joint
committees had been created in Portugal consisting of
representatives of the Church and of the Government. One
of the joint committees dealt with the interpretation
and proper execution of the Concordata, he noted.
Mr. Faleiro said the Legislative Assembly was competent
to enact new law as this was within the legislative
power granted to it by the Concurrent list in the
Seventh Schedule. Similar laws existed for other major
religions in the country such as the Hindu Endowments
Act, the Wakf Board Act and the Sikh Gurudwara Act.
He asserted that all religions must be kept on the same
footing on such matters as had been done in the
Portugal. Mr. Thomas said that one of the smallest
religions in India from the point of view of membership
was the Sikh religion. Administration of their
properties was governed by the Sikh Gurudwara Act. Next
larger, apart from the Christian religion, was Muslim
religion. They also had trust properties, the
administration of which was governed by the Wakf Act.
(Courtesy: The Hindu)
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