Religious Freedom Lately: SCOTUS lifts COVID restrictions on religion, France's Muslim ID Mix-Up And More

This week in Religious Freedom Lately we look at several cases from around the world dealing with a myriad of diverse issues. 

While small fights continue over lawsuits of unjust termination at Catholic schools in America, Europeans deal with miscommunication over anti-radicalization policy. Not only that, but Greece joins the Serbian Orthodox Church in a battle over safety in worship as the pandemic tears through their highest-ranking clergy.

And China, as always the world’s foremost champion of religious liberty, might soon need to see  your passport for you to organize a worship service.

U.S. Supreme Court blocks order to restrict religious services

On Wednesday evening, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with Catholics and Jews in a case against Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D-NY) order restricting religious gatherings. The order limited houses of worship in “red zones” where COVID-19 has a higher infection rate to no more than 10 people, while businesses were considered “essential” and allowed to admit as many people as they liked.

The justices voted 5-4 to lift the attendance limits in line with requests by Catholic dioceses and synagogues in New York City. Justices had turned down similar requests last summer, while Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was still on the court.

Read the full ruling here.

Catholic Pregnancy Prohibition Is Back To Court

A lawsuit against St. Theresa School in New Jersey to reverse their termination of a female lay teacher for what the school described as a breach of moral code has been reinstated.

Victoria Crisitello, the teacher in question, has been with the Catholic school for years in several different positions including working with toddlers and instructing art classes. She was dismissed from her job after it came to light that she was pregnant out of wedlock.

Crisitello was terminated for “immoral conduct” on the grounds of her having premarital sex. However, this aspect of the Catholic school’s moral conduct requirement was not enforced uniformly among employees. The court found that Crisitello’s willing admission of her pregnancy was the main factor in singling her out for termination.

“We now hold that knowledge or mere observation of an employee's pregnancy alone is not a permissible basis to detect violations of the school's policy and terminate an employee,” the court wrote.

Additionally, the school’s moral code failed to outline that workers engaging in premarital sex was in violation of their conduct policy despite outlining several other specific firable actions including posession of pornography and gambling.

Identification Numbers For Thee But Not For Me? Not Quite.

The French government has categorically denied planning selective ID programs for Muslim youth after accusations of such policies went viral.

Last Wednesday, the government introduced a new bill intended to give all students in France an identification number. These numbers would be used to ensure that all children would be properly attending class and accounted for.

This action was intended to combat areas that the French government believes has led to radicalization amongst Muslim children, including homeschooling, truancy, and dropping out of the education system entirely.

Viral social media posts, however, began to spread word that these identification numbers would only be applied to Muslim children. Online critics slammed the supposed singling out of Muslim children as barbaric and discriminatory, and the claim spread worldwide.

Pakistan’s Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari tweeted out a response to the hoax comparing Macron and the French government to the Nazis. Mazari later deleted the post.

The nation’s Ministry for European and Foreign Affairs dismissed all allegations of Muslim-exclusive IDing, calling the claim “absolutely false.”

“The draft bill establishes a clear principle: all children must attend school. Home schooling will be limited to exceptional circumstances and require specific authorization based on clear and non-discriminatory rules,” the ministry wrote on social media.

Wanna Start A Chinese Church? No Problem! Passport, ID, Name, And Legal Papers, Please.

China has drafted a new set of rules that, if implemented, could further restrict religious activities and worship for both foreign and Chinese religious institutions.

As China continues its ongoing persecution, forced sterilization, and mandatory re-education of the country’s Uighur Muslim population, the ruling Chinese Communist Party is seeking to expel any religious devotion that threatens the country’s “cultural unity.”

The new laws aim to remove foreign influence from international religious bodies that are currently present in China. This includes a firm ban on foreign influence of Chinese clergy regardless of religion or denomination. This most poignantly strikes at the Catholic Church, which has been in a tug-of-war for control of episcopal appointments within the country for years.

Article 4 of the proposed rules claims that China will respect the religious freedom of foreigners within its borders. However, “domestic” foreigners — those living in China— who wish to organize for worship in temples, churches, or other spiritual facilities will be forced to collectively appoint representatives.

These representatives must “have no words or deeds hostile to China, have no bad records, and be able to bear corresponding legal responsibilities.”

Foreigners wishing to establish new or temporary places of worship will also be forced to provide a slew of materials to the CCP, including holy texts for examination, as well as names, identification and passports for all who intend to worship.

These foreign services must also ban Chinese nationals from worship.

Serbians, Spoons, Sharing, And Sickness

The two most senior Serbian Orthodox Church leaders have both died due to complications brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The ongoing struggle with the virus is causing division in the religious community as members are forced to decide if worship is worth the risk.

Serbian Orthodox worshippers have in recent months refused to enforce social distancing or mask-wearing during worship, which they believe is a time that the virus cannot harm them. Serbian Orthodox members have regularly kissed the container holding a deceased patriarch’s remains and sharing communion utensils placed in their mouths.

Similarly, leaders of the Greek Orthodox church have continued to share communion using the traditional method of the same spoon for the entire congregation.

Orthodox Christians believe that the Eucharist cannot transmit the virus because it is the body and blood of Christ.

Greek churches are currently back under lockdown due to an uptick in cases in the nation. However, many refuse to obey the order, including clergy.

One priest who was fined by officials for leading a service with two observers slammed the government for interfering with worship, saying, “you’re either with Christ or the coronavirus.”

Timothy Nerozzi is a writer and editor from northeastern Pennsylvania. He covers religious issues with a focus on the Catholic Church and Japanese society and culture.