In the German Catholic Church, approx 800 thousand people. There on Tuesday Council of Bishops He announced an important decision that had been taken in Bonn Association of German Dioceses. The new version is approved by the required majority vote Church Labor Act. Now each diocese must implement the restrictions on its own for them to take effect.
In recent decades Catholic Labor Act – Apart from general terms – It also interfered with personal life Church employees have repeatedly given way to layoffs or been the basis for transferring an employee to another location. An example is history President of the Catholic Hospital Düsseldorf, who had been in a legal dispute with the Church for years. The reason came up again and again Marriage after divorce He lost his job at the clinic because of it.
Same-sex marriages were considered a breach of faith or a basis for it Termination of employment. Try “Outside the Church” Earlier this year, he went public with several stories of victims Same-sex relationship Or Marriage after divorce.
The new so-called Basic Church Service Regulations reform rules have been in effect since 2015. Personal sphere of life So it is not in the interest of a Catholic employer. According to the new rules Belongs to the Catholic Church Employment is one of the criteria when required for a given position, for example in the case of pastoral workers.
Apostasy from the Catholic Church However, there is a criterion for exclusion from employment Reason for dismissal. This also applies to activities recognized as Anti-Church.
Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) The Church welcomed the changes in labor laws. ZdK leader Irma Stetter-Karp called today’s decision a “delayed step”. He explained that the decisive factor in labor law is “unconditional acceptance today”. Sexual identityPeople employed by the church.
“The choice of life form should not be in the future No bar to employment or grounds for termination“, declared the Central Committee of German Catholics.
Politicians and representatives of the Church also expressed their satisfaction with the new regulations.
German leader CaritasEva Maria Welskop-Deffaa spoke of a “paradigm shift” and recognized that this reform was long overdue. According to him, it is now important that dioceses implement it as soon as possible so that it applies throughout Germany. uniform law.
In turn, the spokesman for the Parliamentary Club’s religious policy FDP Sandra Bubendorfer-Lich believes changes in the law “An important and urgently needed signal“. Many people who have attracted her attention Church serviceSuffered because of “out of place and discriminatory” order.
Hamburg Archbishop Stefan Hesse sees “important and necessary changes” in the new law. In Archbishop of Hamburg The changes are expected to take effect in the first quarter of next year.