The Catholic School system in Indianapolis, Indiana is under fire after the local archbishop issued a strong edict to 2 high schools: fire your gay-married teachers or lose your recognition as a Catholic institution.
Christianity
After learning that 2 high school teachers within the Indianapolis diocese were openly gay and involved in same-sex marriages, Archbishop Charles Thompson went on the warpath and demanded that both instructors be terminated.
In a statement to Cathedral High School and Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School, Archbishop Thompson said the archdiocese’s approach to teachers in same-sex marriages was “not about sexual orientation,” but rather its belief that Catholic school employees “are ministers of the faith” who must “abide by all Church teachings, including the nature of marriage.”
“If and when a minister of the faith is publicly not doing so, the Church calls us to help the individual strive to live a life in accordance with Catholic teaching,” he added.
Interestingly, the archbishop never mentioned divorced teachers or fornicating teachers or adulterate teachers. He only singled out gay teachers and those who are in gay marriages.
Archbishop Thompson left each Catholic school with an impossible task — a task that concluded with a surprise ending.
On Sunday, Cathedral High School caved to the demands of the archbishop and agreed to fire its gay teacher in order to maintain its Catholic affiliation. However, Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School refused to fire its gay teacher, saying it would rather forfeit its identity as a Catholic school rather than bend to the demands of discrimination.
“It is Archbishop Thompson’s responsibility to oversee faith and morals as related to Catholic identity within the Archdiocese of Indianapolis,” Cathedral High School said in a letter. “Archbishop Thompson made it clear that Cathedral’s continued employment of a teacher in a public, same-sex marriage would result in our forfeiting our Catholic identity due to our employment of an individual living in contradiction to Catholic teaching on marriage.”
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If Cathedral had chosen to ignore the order, it said it:
• Would lose the ability to celebrate the Sacraments with students and the community.
• Could no longer serve on its own board of directors.
• Would lose its affiliation with the Brothers of Holy Cross.
• Would lose its status as an independent nonprofit organization, and therefore could not operate as a nonprofit school.
“In today’s climate, we know that being Catholic can be challenging and we hope that this action does not dishearten you, and, most especially, dishearten Cathedral’s young people,” Cathedral’s statement continued. “We know that some individuals do not agree with every teaching of the Catholic Church and so their conscience struggles between the teaching and what they believe is right. Please know that we offer our prayers and love to this teacher, our students and faculty, our Archbishop, and all associated with Cathedral as we continue to educate our students in the Catholic Holy Cross tradition.”
However, the 2nd Catholic school surprised everyone with a completely different reaction.
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In a statement, Brebeuf Jesuit Prep School said they have “respectfully declined the Archdiocese’s insistence and directive that we dismiss a highly capable and qualified teacher due to the teacher being a spouse within a civilly recognized same-sex marriage.”
Adding that the Brebeuf instructor does not teach religion and “is a longtime valued employee of the school,” the statement was somewhat acrimonious.
“To our knowledge, the Archdiocese of Indianapolis’ direct insertion into an employment matter of a school governed by a religious order is unprecedented,” said Catholic school president, Rev. William Verbryke. “This is a unique action among the more than 80 Jesuit secondary/pre-secondary schools which operate in dioceses throughout North America.”
His words could not have been more correct.
Nowhere in America would such blatant discrimination of this magnitude be permitted or even legal — except within the Catholic Church. Nowhere in America would the irony be greater — particularly considering the thousands of gay pedophile Catholic priests and reports of rampant gay sex infesting The Vatican.
As the world prepares to celebrate WorldPride and the rights of LGBTQ+ people from all over the world this weekend, the Indianapolis Catholic School saga proves one very simple point: the Catholic Church is still very much behind the times and living in the dark ages.
And they wonder why ten people go to the service and nobody want to be a priest any more. DJ is right this is discrimination. I hope the teacher who got fired sues.