Ministry of Culture is requiring the Oslo Catholic diocese to pay back 40.5 million kroner immediately, but the church is refusing.
The background is the matter of alleged membership cheating, and Bishop Bernt Eidsvig is charged with serious fraud of 50 million Nok. According to the newspaper Aftenposten, the church has repeatedly asked for the postponement of repayment because they disagree with the claim, but the Ministry of Culture has now finally denied further postponement.
– To register people without contacting them to ask for approval in a register that triggers direct government support cannot be right, said Mr Baard Folke Fredriksen in the Ministry of Culture.
The diocese has announced a civil lawsuit against the Ministry of Culture and asked in the end for a postponement pending this.
– We have not reached a decision about how we should react to their refusal, writes the diocesan administrative manager Lisa Wade.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
