Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Once again, a Catholic school has come under fire for terminating a guidance counselor after it discovered that she was married to a woman. And, once again, the media has joined with the school’s detractors to pour the gasoline of misrepresentation and the usual incoherent politically correct rhetoric on the flames.
The Indy Star is reporting on the case involving Shelly Fitzgerald, who has worked as a guidance counselor at Roncalli High School in Indianapolis for the last 15 years. Fitzgerald was recently put on paid administrative leave after school officials recently found out that she married a woman in 2014.
The school immediately came under fire, even though, as the school revealed in a Facebook message to the public, Fitzgerald signed a contract that clearly defined the fact that “the personal conduct of every teacher, guidance counselor and administrator and staff member, both at school and away from school, must convey and be supportive of the teachings of the Catholic Church.” (The school’s Facebook page is “currently unavailable”.)
The statement continued: “These expectations are clearly defined in school employee contracts and ministerial job descriptions so every employee can make an informed decision regarding their employment prior to the start of each program year and before signing the annual contract. When the expectations of a contract are not being met, the employee and the school will attempt to reach a resolution so that the contractual requirements are fulfilled.”
Even though legal experts told the Star that the school is within its legal rights to terminate a guidance counselor under these conditions, that hasn’t stopped the media from whipping up the public’s ire.
For example, the Star chose to interview Francis DeBernardo, executive director of the dissident group known as New Ways Ministry who said the firing of teachers involved in same-sex marriages “has been a trend going on now for about seven or eight years . . . We continue to hear of new cases, and I think at the root of it is the fact that Catholic leadership has not resolved itself to the fact that marriage equality for lesbian and gay people is now a social reality.”
Does this mean the Church should go against St. Paul’s exhortation in 2 Timothy 4:2 to “proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient.”
Perhaps if DeBernardo read this particular Scripture more closely, he would realize that St. Paul is warning about the exact same scenario that is unfolding in our world today. “ . . . [F]or the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths.”
It appears as though that time has come, which explains why the Star closes this article with a gross misrepresentation of statements made by Pope Francis to make it look like the Church is turning a blind eye to St. Paul’s exhortation and beginning to “get with the times.”
“In 2013, Pope Francis told a group of reporters he wouldn’t judge gay priests,” the Star reports. “And earlier this summer, a man who survived abuse by priests told reporters that Pope Francis said his sexual orientation doesn’t matter.”
Both of those statements were taken out of context and are being over-used by the press to create division within the Church, pitting the faithful against each other.
Unfortunately, as the commenters on the Roncalli High School Facebook page reveal, this isn’t too tough to do in an era of poor catechesis. The most oft-repeated comment about the controversy at the school is to resort to another gross misinterpretation – this time of Scripture – by accusing the school of violating Jesus’ prohibition against judging others. The school did no such thing. What Jesus taught is that we are not to judge the hearts of others, but He never hesitated to judge whether behaviors were right or wrong. He did this every time He told a sinner to “go and sin no more.” Can you imagine what the reaction would be if He made that statement today? He’d be called every name in the book, from a “hater” to a “homophobe” which explains why those of us who repeat His words today are plastered with the same uncharitable labels.
And for those who argue that what’s “right or wrong” is changing and we need to keep up with the times, it would be wise to take a moment to reflect on whose definition of “right or wrong” we’re relying upon. Is it a definition contrived by a culture that changes with every shift of the politically correct wind, or the Author of Love Himself?
As for me, I will always opt for the most trusted source.
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