‘Everyone is allowed to express beliefs openly’

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The Auxiliary Bishop, Mgr Charles Scicluna, has welcomed a European court decision that the rights of a British Airways worker to express her religion were violated when she was prevented from visibly wearing a cross. Nadia Eweida, a practising Coptic Christian, was yesterday awarded €2,000 in compensation by European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg after it ruled against the UK. The court’s decision was based on the fact that a discreet cross would not have adversely affected BA’s public image. The ECHR declared that the UK authorities “failed sufficiently” to protect the applicant’s right to manifest her religion, in breach of article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Mgr Scicluna hailed the court’s ruling “as good news for people of all faiths” and not only for Christians. “It is perfectly legitimate to wear a discreet sign of one’s belief and it should not offend other people – it’s a question of reciprocal tolerance,” he told The Times. This long awaited decision by the European court confirmed “we can all be free to express our beliefs openly”. After the ruling Ms Eweida, 60, told the British...