Catholic Diocese of Columbus Adds to Morality Guidelines
By JoAnne Viviano
Employees of Catholic schools, churches and other organizations overseen by the Diocese of Columbus are being asked to sign updated agreements that include examples of immoral conduct that could lead to their firing. The changes also specify that workers must abide by Catholic Church teachings “both within and outside their employment duties” and regardless of their religious affiliation. The changes are meant to clarify existing policies, diocesan spokesman George Jones said yesterday. “These in no way alter or modify the original intent of these policies,” the diocese said in a statement. “Catholic institutions should inherently reflect Catholic teachings. While our diocese is open to staff, faculty and students of many faiths and beliefs, it is entirely appropriate and necessary that these institutions, and the employees who serve within them, strive to respect these teachings as set forth in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.” The changes come less than a year after the diocese reached a private settlement with physical-education teacher Carla Hale, who was fired after she acknowledged her same-sex partner in a newspaper obituary. The agreements apply to 1,479 school employees and 2,661 employees elsewhere in the diocese, Jones said. They do not apply to employees of Catholic hospitals and universities, which are separate entities. They also do not apply to members of the clergy. Conduct that could result in firing includes having sex without being married and pursuing or publicly supporting in vitro fertilization. Such morality clauses “constitute an immoral act” because they exclude people — the noncelibate, gays, those who divorce and remarry without church approval — from diocesan jobs, said Tom Lupia, co-director of the Columbus chapter of Call to Action, a group of Catholics who seek to change some aspects of the church. “Jesus taught that we should reflect God’s inclusive love for us by loving one another inclusively,” he said in an email. “There is to be no exclusion. We are even to love our enemies." Teachers and other employees are now receiving the updated contracts. One teacher told The Dispatch that she resigned from her job because she disagrees with the morality clause. She asked that her name not be published because she is still being paid her 2013-14 salary and fears retaliation. She and her husband were Catholic but became Episcopalian over the past year because of concerns about the church, she said. “Before, the understanding was that when you were in your classroom, you would always uphold Catholic values and principles, which I have no problem with,” she said. “ The new contract seemed a little more intrusive into personal life and personal beliefs. “I was very bothered by the Carla Hale firing, and I’ve really been searching my conscience ever since then. And I really feel in a lot of ways this isn’t treating people with love and kindness, which is what I essentially believe in.” Columbus follows the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and the Diocese of Cleveland in amending school policies. In all three places, teachers are referred to as “ministers,” a move some see as a reaction to a Supreme Court ruling that gives religious employers wider discretion over firing ministerial employees. School contracts also are being updated in other areas, including Oakland, Calif., and Honolulu, said Rita Schwartz, the president of the National Association of Catholic School Teachers. She suspects that the impetus is several recent legal challenges to firings. In Cincinnati last year, the archdiocese was ordered by a federal jury to pay $171,000 to a teacher fired after she became pregnant through artificial insemination. In a separate case, the archdiocese settled out of court with an unmarried teacher who was fired after she became pregnant. Schwartz said that unions have not objected to morality clauses in the past, but some of the recent changes seem to be too much and for the wrong reasons. “It’s not being done for religious purposes — it’s being done because they were sued and don’t want to lose any more cases,” she said. “And that’s not as it should be. That should not be the motivation.” All this comes against the backdrop of a Gallup report released on Friday that shows record-high percentages of Americans describing a number of issues contrary to Catholic teaching as “morally acceptable.” Among them are birth control (90 percent), divorce (69 percent), sex between an unmarried man and woman (66 percent), having a baby outside marriage (58 percent), gay relations (58 percent) and abortion (42 percent). Contact: jviviano@dispatch.com
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