Bucharest, Romania - Liberal Deputy Mona Musca said yesterday that the after 16 years of stuttering, a law on religious freedom is close to being completed, adding that the law is to be adopted by the deputies.
She said she is happy that the consensus they reached pleased about 98 percent of the representatives of the religious denominations, except Greek Catholics. Musca explained that they are unhappy with the fact that the issue of the restitution of land properties which belonged to them was not settled yet. She pointed out that this aspect is to be included in a different law.
Musca stressed that the law is an essential one not only on the European agenda, but also for the religious communities in the country.
The U.S. Ambassador to Romania, Nicholas Taubman, said that the religious freedom is a "corner stone of democracy," adding that Romania has to complete the draft law on religious freedom in order to reach the status of a functional democracy.
U.S. law professor Cole Durham Jr., who has been advising the parliamentarians and drafted the law, said that religious freedom is based on two main aspects. On one hand there is the internal freedom which means that each individual is free to choose his religion; on the other hand there is the external freedom which is included in the right of manifestation of religion, which has to be limited in several respects, to assure the freedom of other individuals.
Musca focused on several stipulations of the law, saying that there still things that should be changed, including the provision which says that a religious association needs 300 members to function.
Durham said that such a stipulation constrains the religious freedom, adding that people should be allowed to create such associations.