Church in the World

Catholics must fund pastors, court rules

Denmark

Catholics must continue to pay taxes that fund the salaries of Lutheran pastors, Denmark's Supreme Court ruled on Monday, writes Abigail Frymann.

A group of five Catholics, Catholics for Equality among Religious Societies in Denmark, filed a lawsuit complaining that state funding of Lutheran pastors and the legal requirement to register births and deaths through the Lutheran Church - of which 83 per cent of Danes are members - were discriminatory towards those belonging to a different religious group.

But the seven high court judges ruled this week that registering births with the Church was "an administrative task without religious content" and that it was not unreasonable for Catholics and other minority groups to contribute to the financing of the Church. The court found "no direct link between the taxes paid and the religious activities of the Church".

The Bishop of Copenhagen, Czeslaw Kozon, said that the lawsuit had not been filed on behalf of the diocese and was not the best way to bring about change, even if it had highlighted real problems. He expressed concern that the case could damage ecumenical relations. Bishop Kozon said: "My favourite way of solving these problems is in dialogue between the state and other denominations." He added that the issues raised by the case were being dealt with and may be resolved independently of the court case.

A coalition of Churches including Catholic, Baptist and Pentecostal Churches, has sent a report to Denmark's Church Ministry proposing revisions to the existing system that would enable taxpayers to opt out of paying Lutheran pastors' salaries and instead contribute to their own Churches. The bishop said that a growing number of Baptists, Muslims and non-believers were asking for the registration of births to be carried out by the civil authorities.