Father Ordered to Keep Daughter from His Catholic Faith

A family law court in Chicago recently ordered Joseph Reyes not to expose his three-year-old daughter to his Catholic faith. He and his ex-wife decided to raise their three-year-old daughter in the mother’s Jewish faith. The mother asked for a temporary restraining order against Reyes that went beyond; the order kept the father from exposing his daughter to any other faith except the mother’s faith. Before the court order, Reyes had already had his daughter baptized.

As an attorney who specializes in family law, this order is quite unusual. However, when a family court, or any other court for that matter, issues an order, it should be strictly followed. But in the first place, family law courts should not issue orders based on the religious upbringings of children, or from preventing the non-custodial parent from exposing his child to the non-custodial parent’s faith.

The court’s order creates problems, due to the fact that it is based on two different religions that are extremely complex in their own ways. This order is too black-and-white for a situation that is too vague and complicated.