Swiss church takes baptism ban to the European Court of Human Rights

This issue has been a hot potato for several years already, Evangelical Focus reports. In May 2022, the église évangélique de Cologny requested permission to hold a baptism ceremony in the Lake of Geneva. The event would take place on a Sunday morning, and an adult would be baptised by submersion in the presence of family and friends. There would be a prayer and some singing as well.

However, the Geneva State Council did not allow it. It referred to what is known as the laïcité law. This regulation reads that only churches that are connected to the state are allowed to baptise in public places, such as the Lake of Geneva.

Protestant Church Switzerland appeals in public baptism case

10-02-2023

The church went into appeal at the Federal Court but to no avail. Despite the support of the Swiss Evangelical Alliance, the Evangelical Network of Geneva and the French Federation of Evangelical Churches (FREE), the église évangélique de Cologny lost the case. According to the judge, the baptism ceremony in a public space could disturb the religious peace and convictions of others, the Reformatorisch Dagblad reports.

Separate

Last April, the Swiss Evangelical Alliance published a statement in which it says that the decision of the Federal Court validates a set-back of religious freedom in the canton. “It shows a secularism that is based more upon distrust towards churches than upon openness and a richer social life.” The Alliance also rejects the idea that large Swiss churches are more privileged than free churches. Church and state should be separate, it believes.

Genevan authorities refuse permission public baptism

11-07-2022

The église évangélique de Cologny now takes the case to the European Court of Human Rights. The question is whether this European Court will agree with the Swiss explanation of the laïcité principle. This time, the church also receives support from the Swiss Evangelical Alliance, the Evangelical Network of Geneva, the French Federation of Evangelical Churches (FREE), Evangelical Focus states.