SPAIN
Journal (Ireland)
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH was within its rights not to renew the contract of a married Spanish priest, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled.
José Antonio Fernandez Martinez was ordained in 1961, but applied for a dispensation from celibacy 23 years later. Having not received a response, he was married a year later.
He and his wife had five children and he went on to teach Catholic religion at a school in the Murcia region from 1991.
In November 1996 the Murcia newspaper La Verdad published an article about the “Movement for Optional Celibacy” of priests (MOCEOP) of which Fernández Martínez was an active member.
The article included comments by a number of participants indicating their disagreement with the Church’s position on abortion, divorce, sexuality and contraception, illustrated by a picture of Fernandez Martinez with his family.
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