Religion – Weltanschauung – Recht [ RWR ]

The applicant, Mr 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, which was granted in 1997. 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“ for priests. It reported that Mr Fernández Martínez, a member of the movement, had previously been rector 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. On 29 September 1997, the Diocese of Cartagena informed the Ministry of Education of its intention not to renew Mr Fernández Martínez’s contract for the 1997/98 school year. Den Rest des Beitrags lesen »

In today’s Chamber judgment in the case of Fernández Martínez v. Spain (application no. 56030/07), which is not final, the European Court of Human Rights held, by a majority, that there had been no violation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The case concerned the decision not to renew the contract of a priest, who was married with five children, to teach Catholic religion and morals, following the publication of an article disclosing his membership of the „Movement for Optional Celibacy“. Den Rest des Beitrags lesen »