By Nicholas de Cardenas

Madrid, Spain, November 7, 2024 / 12:55 p.m.

The Spanish Constitutional Court (TC, by its Spanish acronym) has ruled that by refusing to admit a woman, a male Catholic brotherhood violated the legal precept of non-discrimination based on one’s sex and right of association.

In 2008, María Teresita Laborda Sanz applied to join the Pontifical, Royal and Venerable Slavery of the Most Holy Christ of La Laguna, a public association of the faithful founded in 1545.

Article 1 of statuses of the brotherhood declares that it is a “religious association of gentlemen, established to promote among its members a more perfect Christian life, the exercise of works of evangelical piety and the increase of devotion and veneration of the holy image of Our Crucified Lord”, “this is why the request was refused.

In 2021, the Supreme Court ruled that Laborda had not suffered any discrimination because “the objectives of (the brotherhood) being religious, it did not occupy a dominant position in the economic, professional or labor spheres, therefore no prejudice could be caused to the appellant, who could create a new religious association with the same goals.

The Constitutional Court now considers that the content of article 1 of the statutes of the brotherhood “is not protected by the religious autonomy of the said association insofar as the prohibition on women from being part of the association does not is based on no religious reason. religious or moral nature”, November 4 statement of TC explains.

“The requirements of religious freedom and the principle of religious neutrality are not in question” arising from article 16 of the Spanish Constitution, the court considers that “although a private association has the right to freely choose whom she associates (article 22), this right cannot constitute discrimination based on sex when the association occupies a “privileged” or “dominant” position in the economic, cultural, social or professional field”, as ruled by the Supreme Court.

However, the Constitutional Court held that “although the activities carried out, from which the applicant is excluded, are acts of religious worship and are not linked to any economic, professional or work-related matters, this does not exclude the possibility that These activities These acts can also have a social or cultural impact, given that culture and religion, being different elements, are not watertight compartments, and that a large number of religious (public) events in Spain make part of the history and social culture of our country.

The TC concluded that the complainant “has no possibility of carrying out the same activity of veneration of the said image in another brotherhood or brotherhood of the municipality”. The decision of the six judges of the second chamber of the Constitutional Court was not unanimous.

Expert: decision is ‘bad news’

Rafael Palomino, professor of state ecclesiastical law at the Complutense University of Madrid, criticized the TC’s decision in a comment posted on his professional profile on LinkedIncalling it “bad news.”

To the argument of the TC which considers that the complainant saw her rights violated because “she does not have the possibility of carrying out the same activity of veneration of the said image in another brotherhood or brotherhood of the municipality”, Palomino replied: “What do you think means that she cannot exercise the same religious activity? Let the applicant create another brotherhood, another association, another religion if she wishes! This is beginning to be the reverse of the law presided over by the constitutional judiciary of a banana republic.

Consulted by ACI Prensa, the diocese of Tenerife refused to comment on this decision.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It was translated and adapted by CNA.

Nicolás de Cárdenas has been ACI Prensa correspondent in Spain since July 2022. During his career as a journalist, he has specialized in socio-religious topics and has also worked for local and international civil associations.