Since 1989 the European Consortium of Church and State Research has promoted scholarly study in the field of law and religion. The members of the Consortium meet once a year in order to discuss a selected topic, based on national reports produced by the members. The proceedings are published annually, collecting national reports and themed papers by invited experts. The topic for 2013 was the legal dimension of the training of religious ministers in Europe. Twenty-seven members of the Consortium and invited experts met at the Château de Klingenthal, a facility of the Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Foundation in Alsace, France, from 14 to 17 November 2013. The meeting was convened by the Centre Droit, Société, Entreprise et Religion, a research centre associated with the University of Strasbourg and the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, under the scientific supervision of the Consortium member Francis Messner.
During the two days of formal meetings, participants endeavoured to grapple with the extremely diverse historical and legal picture of Europe, on which the overview offered by Brigitte Basdevant Gaudemet from the University of Paris XI proved extremely enlightening. The participants engaged with the conceptual intricacies of the training of religious ministers and in particular:
i. How to define a religious minister;
ii. How to understand the difference, if any, between spiritual training and cultural training;
iii. How to categorise the role and function of governments; and
iv. How to safeguard religious autonomy.
Consideration was also given to the latest developments in the area and included both training of Muslim personnel, noting the growing activism of European governments to impose a ‘moderate’ version of Islam through state-controlled Muslim education, and the policies of Muslim countries (eg the impact on western Europe of the Turkish Diyanet) and transnational Muslim organisations; and training of Christians, having regard to the reshaping of traditional patterns of education, especially within the Roman Catholic Church, and the challenge of training those from overseas.
Norman Doe, from Cardiff University, provided a paper detailing the atypical situation in the United Kingdom, where religious colleges offer courses for ministry candidates that are either validated by or delivered at the theology and/or religious studies departments of public universities (themselves subject to state higher-education law and independent quality assurance standards). Doe underlined that some religious colleges provide training in other faiths, civil culture and civil law. The colleges are subject to the general law (on employment and charity) but may enjoy exemptions under equality law (to restrict admission of students to the faith in question). There are also specific rules in immigration law about ministers of religion and those in training. The colleges are generally regulated by trust deeds and other instruments, which provide for their governance, inspection, admission, staff, property and academic discipline.
While very specific to the United Kingdom, Doe's observations are representative of the problems experienced throughout Europe. Lars Friedner, the Swedish president of the European Consortium, explained how in his country university education in theology has progressively moved from the training of Lutheran priests into an education about religion for all, while on the other hand universities have became more engaged in the practical education of priests than they have been for several decades. Experts will have to struggle with these conflicting shifts if they wish to understand and improve Church and State arrangements for training of religious ministers and in theological education more generally.
