VERSKO PITANjE U VIDOVDANSKOM USTAVU

Abstract

In 1918, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes included various peoples and numerous churches and religious communities. The largest number of inhabitants of the new state belonged to the Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Muslim religions. The founder of the Constitution had the obligation to regulate the right to freedom of religion by the Constitution and to ensure equality between the existing churches and religious communities. The founder of the Constitution decided to reject the earlier constitutional model of the state religion from the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Montenegro and to standardize the constitutional model of adopted or recognized religions. The political basis for the new constitutional solution was found in point 7 of the Corfu Declaration, which stated that ”all recognized religions will be exercised freely and publicly. The Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Mohammedan religions, which are the strongest in our nation in terms of the number of followers, will be equal and equal to the state. Based on these principles, the legislator will take care to preserve and maintain confessional peace, which corresponds to the spirit and past of our entire nation”. The paper analyzes the norms of the Vidovdan Constitution on freedom of religion.