March 25, 2010
Judge denies Easter Mass for Jewish girl
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A court in Chicago has ruled that a father may not take his Jewish daughter to Catholic Mass on Easter.
Joseph Reyes grabbed headlines when he took his daughter to church and had her baptized despite a temporary restraining order filed by his estranged wife that bars him from exposing their daughter to anything but the Jewish faith.
On Wednesday, during divorce proceeding hearings, Reyes asked Cook County Court Judge Renee Goldfarb if he could take his daughter, Ela, to Catholic Mass on Easter Sunday. The judge denied his request, citing the restraining order.
The judges’ final ruling in the divorce case is expected to be delivered in a couple weeks.
Reyes converted to Judaism when he married his wife, Rebecca, and according to her promised to raise their daughter in the Jewish faith. But after the couple filed for divorce he baptized Ela without his wife’s knowledge.
