Legal framework on freedom of religion and actual application
The Preamble to the Constitution states that the people of Ecuador “recognis[e] our age-old roots […], celebrat[e] the Pacha Mama (Mother Earth) […] and invoke[e] the name of God, and recognis[e] our diverse forms of religion and spirituality”.
Ecuador defines itself as an "intercultural, pluri-national and secular" State (Article 1).
The State upholds “secular ethics as the basis for public service and the legal regulatory system” (Article 3, 4).
“No one shall be discriminated against for reasons of cultural belonging, […] religion, [or] ideology” (Article 11, 2).
The State recognises and guarantees everyone’s right “to practice, keep, change, [or] profess in public or private one’s religion or beliefs and to disseminate them individually or collectively, with the constraints imposed by respect for the rights of others”. It also protects “voluntary religious practice, as well [as] the expression of those who profess no religion whatsoever” (Article 66, 8).
Under Article 19, “it is forbidden to broadcast advertisements that foment […] religious or political intolerance”.
The collective right of Indigenous communities is also recognised: “to uphold, protect and develop collective knowledge; their science, technologies and ancestral wisdom” and “to restore, promote, and protect ritual and holy places” (Article 57, 12). Likewise, “the dignity and diversity of their cultures, traditions” must “be reflected in public education and in the media” (Article 57, 21).
The “right to confidentiality about one’s convictions”, including “one’s religious beliefs” is protected. No one is required to “make statements about these convictions” (Article 66, 11). The “right to conscientious objection” is also guaranteed (Article 66, 12).
“[P]ublic education shall be universal and secular” (Article 28), while “Mothers and fathers or their representatives shall be at liberty to choose for their daughters and sons an education that is in line with their principles, beliefs, and pedagogical options” (Article 29).
The Organic Law on Intercultural Education, as amended in April 2021, guarantees a secular public education, which maintains "independence from religions, faiths and doctrines” (Article 2, 3, j).
The Children and Adolescents Code guarantees “freedoms of thought, conscience, and religion” to children and adolescents (Article 61) who have the right to “preserve, develop and strengthen ... their spiritual, cultural, and religious identity and values” (Article 34). Under the Code children cannot be used “in programmes or shows that include political or religious proselytising” (Article 52).
In 1937 Ecuador and the Holy See signed an agreement granting the Catholic Church the freedom to carry out its ministry and provide education. Catholic dioceses and other institutions were granted legal recognition.
In order to be registered, non-Catholic religious organisations must have their religious character accredited. They are tax-exempt and cannot be for profit. Once such requirements are met, they can be legally recognised.
The 1937 Faiths Law is still in force, regulating how religious organisations must register. The National Council for Religious Freedom and Equality (a national organisation representing Ecuador’s main legally established Churches) is in favour of a new law on religious freedom, deeming the 1937 legislation inadequate.
In April 2022, the law decriminalising abortion in cases of rape came into force, recognising, within certain limits, the right of medical staff to conscientious objection.
Incidents and developments
In August 2021, the Constitutional Court ruled in favour of a group of Jehovah's Witnesses, noting that halting the construction of a place of worship violated their right to religious freedom.
In October, the Court ruled that a decision by the Ministry of Tourism to use the Virgin of El Cisne as patroness for National Tourism Day was unconstitutional, a breach of the principle of separation of state and religion.
A month later, the Court selected, as a legal test, the case of a Seventh-day Adventist university student whose request for an exemption from studies on Saturday on religious grounds had been rejected. The case is still ongoing.
In April 2021, the government imposed a state of emergency due to a rise in COVID-19 cases, banning religious worship. In December, the National Emergency Operations Committee suspended public and private religious events, including Christmas celebrations, this despite the fact that religious freedom can only be restricted in very specific cases and by law.
In May 2021, before leaving office, outgoing President Lenin Moreno scrapped subsidies for Catholic schools, denying the teachers their bonus. In the ceremony marking the formal transfer of command, President Guillermo Lasso included religious rites. In his address, he pointed out that he was going to be head of a secular state, but that that does not mean denying the spiritual realm. He also called for reconciliation between state and religions.
Ecuadorian penal facilities saw major clashes between gangs linked to drug traffickers, highlighting the critical state of the country’s prison system. Between October and November 2021, 187 inmates died in the Guayaquil Prison. In April and May 2022, 64 prisoners died in two other penitentiaries. The Church called for an end to the violence while Archbishop Luis Cabrera, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Ecuador, criticised overcrowding, and the deficiencies of the system regarding prisoner rehabilitation.
President Lasso convened a Commission for Prison Dialogue and Peace-Making, which included Catholic and Evangelical Churches. A presidential spokesman pointed out that peace-making does not mean imposing a religion. In February 2022, the Commission stressed the need for spiritual accompaniment in prisons.
In June 2022, a socio-political crisis broke out, starting with protests over rising fuel prices. Indigenous groups called for a general strike and organised roadblocks; in response, the government imposed a state of emergency.
Religious groups called on the government and Indigenous associations to engage in dialogue. Thanks to mediation efforts by the Catholic Church, a peaceful resolution was found and a deal was signed on 30th June. In July, dialogue roundtables began working with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference as guarantor.
Over the period under review, the Catholic Church called for a strengthening of the judicial system; urged people to get vaccinated because of the pandemic; and promoted Church–State cooperation. Given the violence and insecurity associated with drug trafficking, the Ecuadorian bishops spoke in defence of the country’s institutions, urging stakeholders to engage in dialogue. Following a decision by the Constitutional Court in April 2021, and a subsequent vote in the National Assembly in February 2022 confirming the decriminalisation of abortion in cases of rape, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference criticised the imposition of a “culture of death”.
In October 2021, religious images were damaged in a Church in Loja during a robbery; in March 2022, during the Women's Day March, the Church of Santo Domingo was vandalised with graffiti.
In May 2022, the Wiesenthal Center accused the newspaper El Comercio of anti-Semitism over a cartoon it published dedicated to President Lasso's visit to Israel.
With respect to the COVID-19 pandemic, some groups decided in December 2021 not to get vaccinated because of their religious beliefs. In-person religious celebrations resumed in late 2021, and took place during Holy Week in April 2022.
The period under consideration saw developments in jurisprudence related to Indigenous peoples: their right to self-determination was recognised, so were Indigenous law and ancestral practices, and claims were accepted in connection with activities carried out on their ancestral territories, which have an impact on their practices and customs, often linked to their particular worldview and beliefs.
Prospects for religious freedom
The past few years have been marked by crises that reflect profound social cleavages alongside increasing violence and drug trafficking in Ecuador. The Churches are accepted agents of mediation and dialogue. New jurisprudence is being developed regarding religious freedom, the outcome of which is to be observed closely. Notwithstanding isolated cases (the abolition of a Catholic school voucher and one accusation of anti-Semitism), no major incidents of intolerance or discrimination were observed. Prospects for religious freedom remain positive.
Ecuador