Religious Test for Public Contracts: Germany’s Use of “Faith-Breaker” Declarations Draws Scrutiny
A growing number of public tenders in Germany —more than 3,465 since 2014 (and 232 since January 2025)— have been found to require applicants to sign so-called “Faith-Breaker” declarations. These clauses force companies to explicitly renounce any association, direct or indirect, with the Church of Scientology, including connections held by employees or subcontractors. The contracts require them to not hire individual scientologists even if perfectly qualified for the jobs, which at the same times gets the companies to ask each of their employees if they are or not Scientologists if they want to work with them.
While Germany does not classify Scientology under its state church law framework (which requires any religion to provide list of members and pa church tax), the religion has been consistently recognized in hundreds of court decisions across the country and throughout Europe—including rulings by the European Court of Human Rights. In addition, UN Special Rapporteurs on Freedom of Religion or Belief and on Minority Issueshave affirmed the group’s protection under international human rights standards.
