Ex-Catholic Has No Right to Church Job: German Court

Reuters via Yahoo News ^ | 4/25/13 | Tom Heneghan

[marshmallow]

PARIS (Reuters) - Germany's top labor court ruled on Thursday the country's Catholic charity network had the right to fire an employee who quit the Church in protest against the sexual abuse crisis and disputed decisions by ex-Pope Benedict.

The 60-year-old teacher, challenging his 2011 dismissal, had claimed his constitutional right to freedom of opinion trumped the Church's right to employ only Catholics who agreed with the religious mission of their jobs.

He said that his work at Caritas Germany tutoring grade-school children did not deal with religion and that pupils of all faiths were welcome there.

The decision was a victory for the mainline Protestant and Catholic churches, which together are Germany's largest employer after the public sector, against some lay employees and unions challenging the churches' special status in German labor law.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Hard to believe a German court would get it right, but it did. If you publicly renounce the Church and its mission, don’t expect them to keep you on as an employee. This should happen rather more often.

[Amberdawn]

The Church is Germany’s largest employer after the state?! That’s saying something.

[wolf78]

The Church is Germany’s largest employer after the state?! That’s saying something.

The article says that's protestant and catholic combined, but yes, that's true: 1.2 million workers and half that again in volunteers and about a hundred billion in revenue. German churches run a lot of schools, hospitals, retirement homes, care facilities, kindergartens, meals on wheels etc..