MPs postpone vote on church property restitution bill

The lower house of Parliament on Wednesday again postponed a final vote on a bill that would give Czech churches back their property confiscated in the 1950s. The opposition, which strongly objects to the bill, managed to block the vote by protracted debate; the lower house will return to the issue next Wednesday. Under the draft legislation, the Czech state would return some 56 percent of the physical property worth around 75 billion crowns; for the rest, Czech churches and religious societies would receive some 60 billion crowns in compensation over the period of 30 years.

Author: Jan Richter