State Interference in the Internal Affairs of Religious Institutions

On September 8, 2011, a labor court in Germany decided that the dismissal of the medical superintendant at a Catholic hospital was unlawful. The Catholic Church discharged the doctor following his civil divorce and his remarriage. Because the Church does not recognize the validity of a divorce from marriage, it did not recognize the legality of the doctor's second marriage and therefore condemned him for being engaged in an extramarital (adulterous) relationship with his second wife. The doctor contested the legality of his dismissal under the labor laws of Germany and brought suit against the Church before the labor court.