Jesuit school breaks with archdiocese in refusal to remove teacher in same-sex marriage

The archdiocese had been concerned with the same-sex marriage since 2017

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A Jesuit school has broken with its archdiocese in order to keep a teacher in a same-sex marriage on staff.

In a statement released on Thursday, the president and chairs of the board of trustees of Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis, Indiana announced that the independent Catholic Jesuit school would no longer be recognised by the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.

They explained that archbishop Charles Thompson was planning to announce the formal decree in the June 21 issue of The Criterion, the newspapers put forth by the archdiocese, after a series of requests for the school to fire a teacher who had entered into a same-sex marriage two years earlier.

The school denied the requests.

“Specifically, Brebeuf Jesuit has 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-recognised same-sex marriage,” the school’s statement read.

They say that this is the first incident they’re aware of in which the archdiocese has interfered with a school’s employment practices. (In March, it was revealed that at least three Catholic schools in Indiana, including Brebeuf, had harboured priests who were also child sex predators in the 1970s and 1980s.)

“After long and prayerful consideration, we determined that following the Archdiocese’s directive would not only violate our informed conscience on this particular matter,” the statement continued. “But also set a concerning precedent for future interference in the school’s operations and other governance matters that Brebeuf Jesuit leadership has historically had the sole right and privilege to address and decide.”

The archdiocese issued a statement in response to the school’s, confirming the split.

“Regrettably, Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School has freely chosen not to enter into such agreements that protect the important ministry of communicating the fullness of Catholic teaching to students,” the statement read. “Therefore, Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School will no longer be recognised as a Catholic institution by the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. The attached decree is effective as of June 21, 2019.”

It is unclear if The Criterion did in fact publish the decree as well. In his weekly column for the newspaper, released today, archbishop Thompson explained the sacrament of the Eucharist. The column was titled “Bread and wine become Christ’s body and blood.”