The draft 2021 budget elaborated by the center-right Government of prime minister Florin Citu provides for the massive reduction of the public funds earmarked for the support of religious cults in 2021, by almost 89% compared to the preliminary execution last year, Profit.ro reported. According to the publication, their budget will be slashed from about RON 249 million (EUR 51 mln) in 2020 to only RON 28 (EUR 5.7 mln) this year.

In 2019, the state's financing for the religious cults amounted to over RON 269 mln, and the cut was only marginal in 2020.

However, previous years' experience shows that the situation of budget allocations for religious cults can change during a year, as it happened, for example, in the mandates of Dacian Ciolos (2017) or Sorin Grindeanu (2018).

These budget allocations, through the State Secretariat for Cults within the General Secretariat of the Government (SGG), are intended to support the religious cults in Romania for the restoration and conservation of places of worship, historical monuments, and assets of national cultural heritage belonging to cults, to supplement the own funds necessary for the maintenance and operation of low-income or non-income cult units, for the arrangement and maintenance of cultural-religious museums, for the construction and repair of places of worship, for the purchase of buildings necessary for the activity of cult and social assistance units.

It also covers social assistance activities organized by religious denominations in hospitals, placement centers, homes for the elderly, and other forms of assistance and supports domestic and international actions carried out by religious denominations in Romania.

andrei@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea)