A new law passed by the Portuguese parliament on April 26 will help guarantee religious freedom, according to the leader of the country’s Seventh-day Adventist Church.

“Through this new legislation, the Portuguese government seeks to recognize non-Catholic religious denominations as being in equal status to the Catholic Church, which to date has been considered the ‘only church’ in Portugal,” comments Mario Brito, president of the Adventist Church in Portugal. “This law reflects the legislative intent to guarantee to all citizens the right to hold, not to hold, and to change religious beliefs, and to practice and freely share one’s religious convictions.”

The legislation aims to safeguard religious liberty and recognize freedom of conscience, and is “a major breakthrough in religious liberty in the history of this 850 year-old traditionally-Catholic country,” comments Teofilo Ferreira, an associate director at the church’s world headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States.

The law includes provisions relating to conscientious objection to military service and observance of religious days of rest.

“These articles are particularly significant for Adventists,” says Ferreira. “The recognition, under certain conditions, of the right to be excused from work, school, and examinations on the day of worship is clearly of great importance, as is the recognition of the right to conscientious objector status.” Other articles include the recognition of marriages performed by non-Catholic clergy, as well as tax exemption for religious organizations.

Concerns remain, however, because of a Concordat, signed in 1940, which defines the special relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and the Portuguese state.

“The actual impact of this new law will be evident when the present tension between the Vatican and the Portuguese government is settled over the forthcoming revision of the Concordat,” says Ferreira.