Why can’t the Church employ ministers or teachers in same-sex unions?

[Michie]

Many people, including many Catholics, seem to think that if we could only take the Catholic faith and soften it a bit here and there, incorporating the values of contemporary society, all would be right with the world.


The Archdiocese of Detroit has recently become the object of significant media attention due to the reported firing of a local parish’s music minister due to her entry into a same-sex “marriage.” Such stories consistently provoke a wide variety of media distortions and social media “hot takes”.

The harmful effects of this misleading commentary have been amplified by the recent Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia decision of the United States Supreme Court, in which the Court ruled that employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity are illegal under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

It would be impossible to answer all of these distortions in a single article. It may be helpful, however, to offer some principles that ought to guide Catholics in thinking about how these questions apply to employment in the Church. What follows is by no means a comprehensive list, but here are some of the most important considerations that inform discernment and decision-making about the employment of lay ministers and teachers in the Catholic Church:

1) To employ someone as a lay minister or teacher is an act of endorsement. “Tolerance” is not the pertinent issue is such cases as these. To employ a minister or teacher is to set that man or woman before God’s people as a role model, and not merely as a practitioner or teacher in some specific area of expertise. Accusations of “intolerance” are often hurled at Church authorities when the difficult decision is made to terminate (or not renew) the employment of a minister or teacher based on some public act against Church teaching. But what actually underlies this accusation and drives conflict is plain old disagreement with the Catholic Church’s teaching both on human sexuality, morally acceptable means of procreation, and family life.

This is not to accuse anyone of purposely using the word “tolerance” as a red herring, but such distraction from the real issues at stake is the actual, if unintended, result of using this word. Lay ministers and teachers rightly assert the vital importance they play in the Church and society, precisely because they do so much to shape the minds and hearts of our people. They do this by word and by the example of their lives...

Continued below.
Why can’t the Church employ ministers or teachers in same-sex unions?

 

[chevyontheriver]

Many people, including many Catholics, seem to think that if we could only take the Catholic faith and soften it a bit here and there, incorporating the values of contemporary society, all would be right with the world.


The Archdiocese of Detroit has recently become the object of significant media attention due to the reported firing of a local parish’s music minister due to her entry into a same-sex “marriage.” Such stories consistently provoke a wide variety of media distortions and social media “hot takes”.

The harmful effects of this misleading commentary have been amplified by the recent Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia decision of the United States Supreme Court, in which the Court ruled that employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity are illegal under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

It would be impossible to answer all of these distortions in a single article. It may be helpful, however, to offer some principles that ought to guide Catholics in thinking about how these questions apply to employment in the Church. What follows is by no means a comprehensive list, but here are some of the most important considerations that inform discernment and decision-making about the employment of lay ministers and teachers in the Catholic Church:

1) To employ someone as a lay minister or teacher is an act of endorsement. “Tolerance” is not the pertinent issue is such cases as these. To employ a minister or teacher is to set that man or woman before God’s people as a role model, and not merely as a practitioner or teacher in some specific area of expertise. Accusations of “intolerance” are often hurled at Church authorities when the difficult decision is made to terminate (or not renew) the employment of a minister or teacher based on some public act against Church teaching. But what actually underlies this accusation and drives conflict is plain old disagreement with the Catholic Church’s teaching both on human sexuality, morally acceptable means of procreation, and family life.

This is not to accuse anyone of purposely using the word “tolerance” as a red herring, but such distraction from the real issues at stake is the actual, if unintended, result of using this word. Lay ministers and teachers rightly assert the vital importance they play in the Church and society, precisely because they do so much to shape the minds and hearts of our people. They do this by word and by the example of their lives...

Continued below.
Why can’t the Church employ ministers or teachers in same-sex unions?

My question is why the Church has such trouble hiring actual Christians, and instead ends up employing almost anyone but actual Christians. I know, I know, the Church does hire some actual Christians. But it seems like they hire people who work against the teaching of the faith. It seems. Then we complain when the inevitable train wreck happens. If we even know about the train wrecks. Couldn't they just hire actual Christians in the first place?