Logo Polskiego Radia

Polish court rejects ‘Pastafarian’ case

PR dla Zagranicy
Roberto Galea 19.05.2016 14:18
A regional administrative court in Poland has rejected a complaint about a refusal of the Internal Affairs Ministry to register the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
The logo of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Photo: Flickr.com/Lasse HavelundThe logo of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Photo: Flickr.com/Lasse Havelund

On Thursday, the Voivodship Administrative Court in Warsaw issued a ruling saying that the ministry did not break the law when it refused to register the religious organization.

Judge Jolanta Dargas argued that neither the country’s constitution, nor international conventions were breached by the ministry, stressing that Pastafarians (as followers of the Church are called) still have the right to practice their faith in Poland.

Church representative Piotr Podoba said that “the minister asserts the right to judge the amount of faith in faith”, following the ruling’s announcement.

“They have never taken part in any of our meetings, so I do not know how they can claim that we do not believe in the Flying Spaghetti Monster,” he added.

The Polish arm of the organisation announced they will file an appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court, and possibly even turn to international courts.

The followers of the Flying Spaghetti Monster began their battle with Polish authorities in July 2012. So far they have been denied entry into the register of religious denominations.

Pastafarianism emerged in the United States in 2005, after physics student Bobby Henderson protested against the Kansas State Board of Education's decision to permit the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to creationism in science classes.

According to Pastafarians, the world was created by Flying Spaghetti Monster ('His Noodliness'). (ał/rg)

Print
Copyright © Polskie Radio S.A About Us Contact Us