European Courts to Rule on 'Right to Be Forgotten' Versus Church Autonomy in Baptismal Records
European courts are currently grappling with the legal conflict between an individual's 'right to be forgotten' and the Catholic Church's religious freedom concerning baptismal records. This issue arises from requests by baptized individuals to have their personal data completely erased from baptismal registers, citing Article 17 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The Church, however, maintains that baptism is an indelible sacrament and that baptismal registers are historical records, not membership lists, thus refusing complete erasure. In France, an individual's request for complete removal was denied by national courts, leading to an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Simultaneously, in Belgium, the Diocese of Ghent is challenging a Data Protection Authority order to erase data from a baptismal register, with the case referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community (COMECE) has issued a p...
