Religion – Weltanschauung – Recht [ RWR ]

The European Court of Human Rights will be delivering a Grand Chamber judgment in the case of Fernández Martínez v. Spain (application no. 56030/07) at a public hearing on 12 June 2014 at 10 a.m. – local time – in the Human Rights Building, Strasbourg. The case concerns the non-renewal of the teaching contract of a married priest and father of five who taught Catholic religion and ethics, following the publication of a newspaper article revealing his membership of the “Movement for Optional Celibacy” of Priests.

Principal facts

The applicant, José Antonio Fernández Martínez, is a Spanish national who was born in 1937 and lives in Cieza (Spain). He was ordained as a priest in 1961. In 1984 he applied to the Vatican for dispensation from celibacy. He was married in a civil ceremony in 1985, and he and his wife have five children. He taught religion and ethics in a State high school from October 1991, his contract being renewed every year by the Bishop of the Diocese of Cartagena. In November 1996 the Murcia newspaper La Verdad published an article about the “Movement for Optional Celibacy” of priests. It reported that Mr Fernández Martínez, a member of the movement, had previously been the director of a seminary, and published a photograph of him attending a meeting of the movement, together with his wife and their five children. The article included comments by a number of participants indicating their disagreement with the Church’s position on abortion, divorce, sexuality and contraception. In September 1997 Mr Fernández Martínez was granted dispensation from celibacy by the Vatican. On 29 September 1997 the Diocese of Cartagena informed the Ministry of Education of its intention not to renew Mr Fernández Martínez’s teaching contract for the 1997/98 school year.

Mr Fernández Martínez appealed to the Murcia employment tribunal, which found that he had been discriminated against because of his family situation and his membership of the “Movement for Optional Celibacy”. The Constitutional Court, however, after pointing out the specific nature of religious education teachers in Spain, found that the reasons for not renewing the applicant’s contract had been purely religious and that there had been no violation of Mr Fernández Martínez’s fundamental rights.

Complaints and procedure

Relying in particular on Article 8 (right for respect to private and family life) of the Convention, Mr Fernández Martínez complains about the non-renewal of his contract because of his personal and family situation. He complains that he was discriminated against and maintains that the public disclosure of his status as a married priest with several children formed part of his freedom of expression.

The application was lodged with the European Court of Human Rights on 11 December 2007.

In its Chamber judgment of 15 May 2012 the Court considered that the grounds for the decision not to renew Mr Fernández Martínez’s contract renewed had been of a strictly religious nature. Since the competent courts had struck a fair balance between various private interests, the Court, by a majority, found that there had been no violation of Article 8.

On 24 September 2012 the case was referred to the Grand Chamber at the applicant’s request.

A public hearing took place before the Grand Chamber in the Human Rights Building, Strasbourg, on 30 January 2013.

Press release ECHR 162 (2014) 05/06/2014