Katholische Schwangerschaftsberatung (Social policy – Equal treatment in employment and occupation – Professional activities of Churches and other organisations whose ethics are based on religion or belief – Judgment) [2026] EUECJ C-258/24 [in French] was an Opinion by the Court on a referral by the German Federal Labour Court on the interpretation of Council Directive 2000/78 which, inter alia, bans employment discrimination on the basis of religion or belief.

Katholische Schwangerschaftsberatung, as its name suggests, is a counselling service for pregnant women that operates in accordance with the norms of the Catholic Church. All staff members working in Catholic counselling centres commit in writing to respecting those norms, which stipulate, in essence, that all pregnancy counselling aims to protect the life of the unborn child and must therefore be guided by the desire to encourage the pregnant woman to continue the pregnancy and accept her child [22].

Ms JB, a mother of five, started working at the Association in 2006 as a pregnancy counsellor; in October 2013, however, she made a declaration before the competent local authority, pursuant to the national provisions, that she was leaving the Catholic Church. Continue reading →