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Yesterday’s Appeal Court ruling strikes me as a serious blow to religious freedom | CatholicHerald.co.uk

I found this interesting article on a Catholic UK site in response to an appeals court ruling that a Diocese is financially liable for the malfeasance of a priest as he is an 'employee' of the Bishop. What makes it interesting is the fact that, as he points out, legal precedents in Western courts have established that priests do not possess the same legal rights as an employee. We cannot sue our Bishops outside of the forums provided by Church canon law.

So the courts say that a priest is not an employee when it comes to using civil courts to seek redress from a Bishop, how can we suddenly be seen as such when it comes to opening a diocese to being liable for civil actions by others?

 Court ruling strikes me as a serious blow to religious freedom | CatholicHerald.co.uk

Comments

  1. Rationalist114 July, 2012

    You state that priests cannot sue their bishops in the same way that an employee can sue their employer. Is that the because of the civil courts or the nature of the bishop/priest relationship setup by the diocese. It seems to me the dioceses want it both ways. They want to exert complete control over the priests when they wish to and at the same time treat them like non employees when its convenient to them.

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