Department for External Church Relations
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An expert conclusion concerning the wearing of baptismal crosses sent to the European Court of Human Rights
On July 9, 2012, Father Philip Riabykh, Russian Orthodox Church representative to the Council of Europe, sent to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) a Joint Conclusion of the Strasbourg Representation of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Institute of State-Confession Relations and Law in Moscow concerning a ban on the wearing of small Christian baptismal crosses. A complaint against the ban has been filed by Nadia Eweida and Shirley Chaplin versus Great Britain. The conclusion against the ban was written in the light of the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
The document substantiates canonically and legally the right of Christians to wear baptismal crosses freely and openly as ‘an integral part of the freedom to confess one’s faith in the context of Christian age-old traditions’, the website of the Representation reports.
The Conclusion is sent to the ECHR as an expert material in anticipation of the hearing of the case ‘Nadia Eweida and Shirley Chaplin vs. Great Britain, which is to begin early in September 2012.
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