NSS member challenges CofE on debaptism after Spanish victory
A member of the NSS has challenged the Church of England to provide details of the information it holds on him under the Data Protection legislation, with a view to having his details removed.
John Hunt’s move follows a decision by a Spanish Court that the Catholic Church should, at his request, remove a former member’s name from its records.
The National Court ruled that the archdiocese of Valencia, in eastern Spain, should note in its baptismal records that Manuel Blat González, a 41-year old union worker, had left the church. The decision was a symbolic blow to the church, which faces a dwindling flock and disenchantment among a once-devout people who see it as increasingly out of step with modern life.
Manuel, who was baptised 40 years ago, sent several applications to the church to have his name expunged from baptismal records after he became disillusioned by what he saw as the church's bigotry. Blat, who is gay, said he was particularly angered by the church's stance on same-sex marriage, which is legal in Spain. “I felt I was part of an organization that neither wanted nor respected people like me,” Signor Blat said. “The church doesn’t represent my values.”
The archdiocese refused Blat's request, arguing that baptismal records were historic documents that could not be altered. Blat turned to the Data Protection Agency, which sued the archdiocese on the basis that all data collected about private individuals should be kept up to date and conserved for as long as strictly relevant. The archdiocese appealed against a ruling in the data protection agency's favour in May last year, but the appeal was dismissed on 10 October.
A spokeswoman for the Valencia archdiocese said it was studying the ruling and may appeal before Spain’s Supreme Court. The Church fears that it will open a floodgate of “apostasy” if it becomes widely known that a formal break with the Church is possible. The Roman Catholic Church receives huge amounts of subsidy from the Spanish taxpayer.
The Spanish Episcopal Conference declined to comment on the individual case, but said that baptismal records were not used to calculate the numbers of the Spanish church congregation or as a basis for the allotment of state funds. In a survey by the Centre for Sociological Research in Madrid, 77.6 percent of respondents described themselves as Catholics, but only 16 percent of them said they went to church every week.
The desire to make a formal break from the Church is becoming more widespread. The debate that has taken place on the NSS’s website about people’s experiences of trying to disengage, and the popularity of our “Debaptism Certificate” indicate that more and more people are becoming hostile to the churches that claim them as members because of a ceremony that took place when they were babes in arms.
John Hunt says in his letter to Alexander Nicoll, the CofE’s Data Controller: “I believe that legislation on data protection and freedom of information is now largely unified throughout the European Union. I should like to know what data the Church of England currently holds about me… I have been unable to find any indication on the CofE website on how to submit a Freedom of Information request. Would I be correct in assuming that, while the CofE remains the established church in this country, it is not exempt from the Freedom of Information Act, 2000?”
Mr Hunt awaits a response.
26 October 2007
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