Opponents of the newly approved church restitution law in the Czech
Republic have sent a letter to Pope Francis asking him to prevent the
return of state-owned property to the country's Catholic Church.The authors - including well-known Czech writers and filmmakers - highlight the Pope's beliefs that the Church should serve the poor.
They say the return of church property has split Czech society and intensified the despair of the country's poorest.
Under the restitution, which was reached after 20 years of difficult negotiations, 16 Czech Churches (with the Catholic Church being by far the biggest recipient) are to be given back real estate worth 75 billion Czech crowns (£2.4bn) as well as 59bn Czech crowns (£1.9bn) in financial compensation over 30 years.