There is ‘irreconcilable conflict’ between obeying God and state, Edinburgh’s Court of Session was told, as legal action by church ministers following the enforced church closures during lockdown began.
The judicial review was sought by 27 Scottish ministers against the decision to close churches. The court heard the decision presented church leaders and the wider Christian community with ‘a deep crisis’.
It was argued that first minister Nicola Sturgeon acted outside of her constitutional powers and that the decision breached human rights to religious freedom under the Human Rights Act.
Willie Philip, minister of Glasgow’s Tron Church and one of the ministers involved, said: ‘Criminalising corporate worship is both damaging and dangerous for Scotland.’
The court’s written judgment is expected very soon.
