London, England, Aug 1, 2009 / 22:22 pm
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales as well as the Scottish Bishops’ Conference have submitted a joint response to an EU proposal for an Equal Treatment Directive. The bishops voiced “serious concerns” that the proposal—which covers religion, belief, disability, age and sexual orientation—could be used by “pressure groups” to limit the freedom of Catholics.
Beginning their statement on the European Commission’s proposed directive, the Bishops’ Conferences said the Catholic Church commends the “moral principle” underlying the bill “on the basis of the innate dignity of every person as made in the image of God.”
The statement said that the Church is not seeking “special provisions” or exemptions from “universally applicable requirements” and also reiterated Catholics’ recognition of the freedom of groups in disagreement with Catholic teaching.
“What the Church is seeking from this Directive is simply the right to maintain its own teaching and activities with integrity, according to its own ethos,” the statement said. “As the Directive covers religion, belief, disability, age and sexual orientation, it is inevitable that circumstances will arise where the right to equal treatment under the directive will involve competing rights, either within a protected characteristic or between them, given the incompatibility of some of the beliefs concerned.”