Divorced father denied access to child
Regional authority argues child may be damaged by father’s Christian faith
In a sensational decision, the regional authority for South Denmark has cited a father’s Christian faith as a reason for denying him access to his 8-year-old daughter following his divorce. The judgement reads:
“It is a condition of access that the father does not take the child to the Pentecostalists’ place of worship... Since the father has informed us that he cannot separate his life as a Pentecostalist from his access to his child... we have found it necessary to deny him that access.”
The case has immediately made headlines, with a hail of criticism hitting the South Denmark authority and calling the judgement illegal and discriminatory. The Institute for Human Rights argues that there is freedom of religion in Denmark and no regional authority or former spouse can lay down conditions that limit freedom of religion. The institute is prepared to take the case to the Court of Human Rights, if necessary.
The National Council of Churches in Denmark is supporting the Pentecostalists ‘unless and until there are special documented circumstances’, while a leading article in the Christian Daily sees the decision as ‘in line with the general secular and anti-religious tendency in society.”