Fr. Hans Langendorfer, S.J. The Church in Germany said it would review its employment system after top European judges warned it could violate anti-discrimination laws by requiring employees to be religious.
On April 17, the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that demands for Church employees to have a “religious affiliation” should be subject to judicial review.
Fr Hans Langendorfer, the German bishops’ conference secretary-general, said the Church has “always ensured it does not impose disproportionate demands” on potential employees. He said that, in light of the ruling, the Church would “examine how far its recruitment practices should be adapted.”
In a statement, Fr Langendorfer said Germany’s Catholic bishops welcomed the court’s confirmation that Churches were still entitled to consider a job candidate’s “attitude to religion,” and that state courts could not “disregard their religious ethos.”
However, he noted that Catholic conditions for professional involvement in ministry could now be legally challenged. The Catholic and Protestant Churches are among Germany’s largest employers and have been allowed wide-ranging self-administration under religious freedom clauses in the country’s 1949 constitution, or Basic Law.
However, Church institutions have faced legal action over alleged discrimination against non-Christian employees, notably at Church-owned hospitals and charities.