What legal provision in the U.S. law allow the Catholic Church to discriminate against women?
<p>What legal provision in the U.S. law allow the Catholic Church to discriminate against women? Women aren't allowed to become priest yet, but isn't this against the discrimination law? If not, what legal provision allows the Catholic Church to practice discrimination without any legal punishment?</p>

<p>This is known as the &quot;ministerial exception&quot;, which protects the rights guaranteed under the First Amendment, which include the right of religious groups to determine who is and is not a member of their clergy,  and emerges from the case-law of the US Supreme Court.  The most recent leading case on this is <em>Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission</em>, 565 U.S. 171 (2012); as Chief Justice Roberts put it in that case:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the Establishment Clause prevents the Government from appointing ministers, and the Free Exercise Clause prevents it from interfering with the freedom of religious groups to select their own</p>
</blockquote>

discrimination sex-discrimination