A person who has left a church may, in principle, invoke the European Union’s right to erasure against personal data kept in a baptismal register, Advocate General Laila Medina has advised the Court of Justice.
The opinion stems from a Belgian complaint by a man baptised as a child. The Diocese of Ghent recorded his departure by striking through the entry while leaving the information legible. Belgium’s Data Protection Authority ordered erasure, and the diocese challenged that decision.
Medina concluded that a baptismal register is a structured filing system containing personal data, including information capable of revealing religious belief, so the GDPR applies. Church autonomy does not remove the processing from the regulation.
The opinion does not treat erasure as automatic. A church may be able to show compelling legitimate grounds for retaining data, including the administration of sacraments and the need to avoid repeat baptism. A national court must weigh those interests against privacy, data protection, freedom of conscience and the individual’s wish to disassociate from the institution. Archiving in the public interest or genuine historical research may provide another basis only when the GDPR’s safeguards and data-minimisation rule are met.
If continued processing cannot be justified, leaving the name readable is not erasure. Medina said identifying data should be made illegible, though non-identifying information about a baptism at a particular place and time could remain.
The opinion is not binding. The judges have begun deliberations, and a final judgment will follow later.
Official advocate general’s opinion summary
