Church, state and civil society (International conference 1998)

An international conference was held in Belgrade in June 1998 which gathered philosophers, political scientists, politicians, representatives of various churches and religious communities from South Eastern Europe, the European Union and the US. The role of the church in society, relationships between confessional and national homogenisation, the issues of religious freedom and confessional pluralism, the position of the church in relation to private and public spheres of life, the role of the church in education, inter-confessional and interethnic tolerance - were some of the major topics discussed by experts at this two-day event. 

Provoked by the current state of affairs in relations between the state, the church and civil society, and common misunderstandings with regard to the different roles each of these stakeholders play, the founders of the Foundation initiated this project with the intention of sparking up a debate striped of all pragmatic or political content, a discussion which would facilitate the democratisation and humanisation of relations between various groups and individuals.