Article 19
Official text
Freedom of religion is guaranteed. Every individual has the right to freely profess his/her religion and to disseminate it individually or collectively. All religious faiths and churches are equally free before the law.
Legal commentary
Interpretation
This article guarantees freedom of religion and establishes equality among all religious faiths. The 1991 Constitution broke with the Catholic confessional regime of the 1886 Constitution. Unlike the US Establishment Clause's strict separation, Colombian jurisprudence recognizes a 'secular but not anti-religious state' allowing some collaboration between state and churches while maintaining neutrality. This approach is closer to the German model of cooperative separation.
Consulted sources
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