BERLIN — European rabbis stepped up their pressure on the German government last week to overturn a court ruling banning the circumcision of boys, saying they expect Berlin to introduce changes to the law.

The call came after a court in Cologne ruled last month that circumcision on children amounted to bodily harm and should be banned — sparking a debate about religious freedom in the country.

“If the ruling was allowed to stand, I would not see a future for Jews in Germany,” president of the Conference of European Rabbis, Pinchas Goldschmidt, said at a news conference in Berlin.

Goldschmidt said the failure so far of parliament to pass legal changes ensuring religious freedom would represent “a complete change” in the nation’s post-war history.

More than 40 rabbis attended the two-day conference.

Religious freedom forms part of the German constitution. But Goldschmidt said: “The ban is a fundamental problem for the further development of a Jewish community in Germany.”

He told the German news agency dpa the conference expected Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition to draw up amendments, ensuring religious freedom in the country was not comprised by the court’s decision.

The deadline for the German government to take action “was not tomorrow but yesterday,” warned Goldschmidt.

A spokeswoman for the Justice Ministry in Berlin said officials were “intensively” examining the court ruling.

The court’s decision has united Jewish and Muslim groups, who have argued that circumcision was fundamental to their faiths and called for it to be given protection by the law.

Muslim, Christian and Jewish leaders in Germany are expected to meet soon to consider the ramifications of the court’s decision.

The original case involved a doctor who had circumcised a 4-year-old Muslim boy, leading to medical complications.

In a joint statement, European Jewish and Muslim organizations condemned the ruling, describing it as an affront to their basic religious and human rights.

“Circumcision is an ancient ritual that is fundamental to our individual faiths and we protest in the strongest possible terms this court ruling,” their statement said.

“To that end we will vigorously defend our right to maintain our mutual tradition and call on the German parliament and all political parties to intervene in overruling this decision as a matter of urgency,” they said.