The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Corona and Christmas: Can the state ban church services and family celebrations?

2020-11-22T13:02:59.693Z


Or is there even a threat of a curfew on Christmas Eve? Here the lawyer Hans Michael Heinig speaks about exercising religious freedom in times of a global pandemic.


Icon: enlarge

Christmas party at home - no longer in a large family circle?

Photo: Niedring / Drentwett / Getty Images / MITO images

SPIEGEL:

The fight against Corona will continue in December.

Shouldn't the state at least lift restrictions at Christmas and let Christians celebrate?

Hans Michael Heinig:

No, the festive culture of Christmas, as important as it is for Christians and non-Christians in this country, has little impact on the question of how far the state can go with restrictions.

To person

Icon: enlargePhoto: Daniel Moeller Photography

Hans Michael Heinig, born in 1971, is a constitutional law teacher in Göttingen and head of the Canon Law Institute of the Evangelical Church in Germany.

SPIEGEL:

Why?

Isn't Christmas protected by the religious freedom of the Basic Law?

Heinig:

Yes, of course.

The state cannot ban Christmas per se.

Christians are allowed to celebrate the birth of Jesus - but not necessarily in full churches or in large families.

SPIEGEL:

The state could even ban Christmas services?

Heinig:

We already decided that at Easter, there was also a ban on worship.

Or better: there could be church services, but without visitors, for example for broadcasting on the Internet.

Icon: enlarge

Divine service via livestream (on April 12th from the Saint Sebastian Cathedral in Magedburg): "We have already done this at Easter"

Photo: Ronny Hartmann / dpa

"Interferences with religious freedom are possible"

SPIEGEL:

Freedom of religion is a particularly strong basic right.

It applies "without reservation", as the lawyers say, because it is not subject to legal reservation, like most other basic rights.

Then what are such restrictions based on?

Read more with Spiegel Plus

More perspectives, more understanding.

Your advantages with SPIEGEL +

  • Icon: Check

    SPIEGEL as a magazine

    as an app, e-paper and on the e-reader

  • Icon: Check

    All articles on SPIEGEL.de

    Exclusive texts for SPIEGEL + readers

  • Icon: Check

    Try one month for free

    Cancel anytime online

    A price

    only € 19.99 per month

One month for € 0.00

Try now for 0.00 € Buy nowArrow to the right

Already have a digital subscription? Register here

Restore iTunes subscription

SPIEGEL + is processed via your iTunes account and paid for with a purchase confirmation.

24 hours before it expires, the subscription is automatically renewed by one month at the current price of € 19.99.

You can cancel the subscription at any time in the settings of your iTunes account.

In order to use SPIEGEL + outside of this app, you must link the subscription to a SPIEGEL ID account immediately after purchase.

With the purchase you accept our general terms and conditions and privacy policy.

Source: spiegel

All life articles on 2020-11-22

You may like

Trends 24h

Life/Entertain 2024-03-28T17:17:20.523Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.