EU bans baptising children?

This week we learned that the EU has banned baptism. We were intrigued. The Bulgarian outlet “BG news 168” gave us this curious news that the EU Court (we’re not sure which court they refer to) has ruled that after March 2017, Europeans are no longer allowed to baptise their new-borns.

The fictive ruling seems to be based on Article 16 of the “European convention”. Now we can only guess, but it looks like it is the European Court of Human Rights that stands accused and that the convention in question is the European Convention on Human Rights. Article 16 (in the real convention) concerns ‘Restrictions on political activity of aliens’. But of course, we cannot know what the fictive article 16 concerns. What we do know, however, is that the same myth about a ban on baptism has circulated in Europe at least twice before; once in 2014 and once last year.

What we also know is that Europeans will be able to baptise their new-borns if they wish to also after March this year – as stipulated in Article 9 of the European Convention of Human Rights. The real convention, that is. It says: “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and observance.” (Image: BG News 168)