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OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE SCHOOL v. 
MORRISSEY-BERRU 
Opinion of the Court 

would have held that the ministerial exception applied “be-
cause of the substance reflected in [Biel’s] title and the im-
portant religious functions she performed” as a “stewar[d]
of  the  Catholic  faith  to  the  children  in  her  class.”    Id.,  at 
621, 622. 

An  unsuccessful  petition  for  rehearing  en  banc  ensued. 
Judge  Ryan  D.  Nelson,  joined  by  eight  other  judges,  dis-
sented.  926 F. 3d 1238, 1239 (2019).  Judge Nelson faulted 
the panel majority for “embrac[ing] the narrowest construc-
tion” of the ministerial exception, departing from “the con-
sensus of our sister circuits that the employee’s ministerial 
function should be the key focus,” and demanding nothing 
less than a “carbon copy” of the specific facts in Hosanna-
Tabor.  Ibid.  We granted review and consolidated the case
with OLG’s.  589 U. S. ___ (2019). 

II 
A 

The  First  Amendment  provides  that  “Congress  shall 
make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or pro-
hibiting the free exercise thereof.”  Among other things, the
Religion Clauses protect the right of churches and other re-
ligious  institutions  to  decide  matters  “ ‘of  faith  and  doc-
trine’ ” without government intrusion.  Hosanna-Tabor, 565 
U. S., at 186 (quoting Kedroff, 344 U. S., at 116).  State in-
terference  in  that  sphere  would  obviously  violate  the  free
exercise of religion, and any attempt by government to dic-
tate or even to influence such matters would constitute one 
of  the  central  attributes  of  an  establishment  of  religion.
The First Amendment outlaws such intrusion. 

The independence of religious institutions in matters of 
“faith  and  doctrine”  is  closely  linked  to  independence  in 
what  we  have  termed  “ ‘matters  of  church  government.’ ”  
565 U. S., at 186.  This does not mean that religious insti-
tutions enjoy a general immunity from secular laws, but it