European Court of Human Rights Issues Landmark Ruling Protecting Church Autonomy

Things operate a bit different in Europe when it comes to churches.

Europe does not have a history of a strict separation of church and state where the state does not interfere in the internal affairs of the church. In fact, some countries in Europe still have state churches, for example, the Church of England.

Despite the close relationship between church and state in Europe, there exists a very real threat for some countries to stifle religious freedom. Last year, Hungary passed a Church Act requiring churches to register with the State to have legal status and maintain tax exempt status, among other things.


Under the old law in Hungary, registering a church was a simple and straightforward task. But the 2013 Church Act changed that, adding several controversial provisions that stifled the right of churches in Hungary to even exist. Keep reading