Foster families are not allowed to change the religion of a child given into their care against the will of the child’s birth parents, a court in the Western German city of Hamm said in a ruling on Friday.
The foster parents had to respect the wishes of the child’s birth mother, the court said.
In the case in question, the foster parents wanted to have the child christened and wanted to raise it in the Catholic faith, which had been granted at the first instance.
However, before losing custody of the child, the birth mother had decided that her daughter should be raised as a Muslim.
Her wishes overruled those of the foster parents according to the law on the religious education of children, the judges said. (dpa/NAN)