Ordinary Tribunal of Foggia, Labour Section, ordinance of 26 September 2023 (judge: dr. Picciocchi Aquilina)

The interim ordinance issued by the Ordinary Tribunal of Foggia ordered the reinstatement in his job of a sacristan, who had been dismissed by the Foundation “San Pio da Pietrelcina” - an ecclesiastical body in charge of the management of the Sanctuary of San Giovanni Rotondo (FG) - for discriminatory reasons, and as such null and void (see Article 4 of Law no. 604 of 15 July 1966 and Article 15 of Law no. 300 of 20 May 1970), in this case due to the employee's participation in trade union activities.
For the purposes of identifying the protection to be provided, the decision in question makes a straightforward application of the principle according to which even workers who work for an employer falling into the category of the ideologically oriented non-profit organization, if they are the recipients of a discriminatory dismissal, are entitled to the right to reinstatement in their place of employment, whatever the number of workers engaged by the employer (see art. 3 Law no. 108 of 11 May 1990 ; art. 9, para. 2, Legislative Decree No. 23 of 4 March 2015).
The position of sacristan held by the employee in the present case, however, prompts reflection on the possible interference of the provision of forms of reintegration protection and, upstream, of the very need for the termination of the employment relationship to be provided with a causal justification with the freedom of organisation recognised to the Catholic Church by virtue of Article 2 of the 1984 Agreement amending the Lateran Concordat, ratified and made executive by Law No 121 of 25 March 1985. It is necessary, in this regard, to consider that the sacristan performs a real ministry within the Church, albeit not an institutionalised one, since his function cannot be reduced to that of a mere custodian of the sacristy, since his duties are rather a real service rendered in favour of the ecclesial community .
It is fundamental, however, to point out that even in the ecclesiastical sphere there is a willingness to subject the employment relationship of the sacristan to the discipline of the contractual type of subordinate employment under Article 2094 of the Civil Code, as demonstrated by the existence of the national collective labour agreement for sacristans employed by ecclesiastical bodies, stipulated on 6 December 1983 and last renewed on 11 May 2023 between the Federation of Clergy Associations in Italy (F.A.C.I.) and the Italian Federation of Diocesan Unions of Worship Workers/Sacrists (F.I.U.D.A.C./S.) . One of the clauses of this agreement is aimed, in fact, at regulating dismissals, expressly providing that "[t]he termination of the employment relationship follows the civil law discipline [...]" (art. 20, paragraph 2, C.C.N.L. sacristans 2023) and, therefore, both that relating to the different lawful types of dismissal and that concerning the different protections recognised to employees in the face of unlawful dismissals.

VALERIO D’ALÒ

[1] Cf. Court of Cassation, Labour Section, judgement no. 19695 of 3 October 2016 (Rv. 641349-01); judgement no. 20500 of 25 November 2008 (Rv. 604552-01).

[2] Cf. Pasquale Lillo, s.v. Sacrestia e sacrestano, in Enciclopedia del Diritto, XXXVI, 1989, p. 210; Conferenza Episcopale Italiana, I ministeri nella Chiesa. Documento pastorale dell’Episcopato italiano, Rome, 1975, n. 39, available in https://www.chiesacattolica.it/wp-content/uploads/sites/31/2017/02/I_ministeri_nella_Chiesa.pdf.

[3] Available in https://www.redigo.info/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/CCNL-Sacristi-2022_2025.pdf.

[4] Federazione delle Associazioni del Clero in Italia. It is a private association pursuant to Article 299 CIC and Article 10 of Law 222 of 20 May 1985, approved by the Italian Bishops' Conference, whose purpose is the representation of the clergy in ecclesiastical and civil offices and bodies, which operates under the supervision of the Presidency of the Italian Bishops’ Conference and whose bodies are appointed by the Regional Bishops’ Conferences and the Presidency of the Italian Bishops’ Conference. For an in-depth study of the Statute, please refer to https://faci.net/it/docs/Statuto_Gennaio_2017.pdf.

[5] Federazione Italiana tra le Unioni Diocesane Addetti al Culto/Sacristi.