A FATHER has won the right to stop his children from taking part in Jewish coming-of-age ceremonies, after a court agreed with the man that they should be able to make their own religious choices.

The mother wanted her children to participate in their bar and bat mitzvahs - ceremonies that mark the beginning of boys and girls taking responsibility for their Jewish faith.

But the father, a Catholic who irregularly attends church, wanted them to choose their own religion in a ''voluntary and informed'' way when they were old enough.

The dispute played out in the Federal Magistrates Court in Melbourne where the separated parents, known as Mr and Mrs Macri, asked the court to determine the religious future of their children: a 10-year-old and eight year-old twins.

Mr Macri, 44, did not oppose his children observing Jewish holidays and events. The children had undergone some classes in Hebrew, but the lessons had lapsed at their request. In accordance with traditional Jewish practice, the son had undergone circumcision.