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Indianapolis Archdiocese Cuts Ties with Jesuit H.S. Over Refusal to Fire Gay Teacher

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Indianapolis Archdiocese Cuts Ties with Jesuit H.S. Over Refusal to Fire Gay Teacher B NDINGS Vol. 38 No. 3 A Publication of New Ways Ministry Summer 2019 Indianapolis Archdiocese cuts ties with Jesuit H.S. over refusal to fire gay teacher By Arika Herron the high school, said Midwest Jesuits, called the decision The Indianapolis Star Brebeuf had worked hard "disappointing" in a statement posted to June 20, 2019 to avoid this outcome but the group's website. He said the Midwest the split will not change Jesuits and Brebeuf have been fighting The Archdiocese of Indianapolis is anything for students or the archdiocese over the gay teacher for cutting ties with Brebeuf Jesuit Prepara- families. The partnership the last two years. tory School after the school refused to had enabled VanSlam- "Brebeuf’s administration and Board fire a gay teacher, the latest chapter in a brook to participate in of Trustees have determined that follow- growing debate over LGBTQ staff in meetings of Catholic ing the Archdiocese’s directive would local Catholic education. school principals and al- not only violate their informed con- The decision comes with limited lowed archdiocesan priests science on this particular matter, but also financial implications for Brebeuf, but it to minister at Brebeuf, would set a concerning precedent for could isolate the northwest side school though the school does not future interference in the school’s opera- from the larger Catholic community. have anyone from the arch- tions and other matters that have histori- Brebeuf, which is sponsored by the diocese at the school cur- cally been the right and privilege of USA Midwest Province of the Society of rently."All of our program- Brebeuf Jesuit officials," Paulson said in Jesus, received notice Thursday that the ming will remain un- his statement. archdiocese will issue a canonical decree changed," he said. "There Because Brebeuf is an independent Friday stating that the archbishop will no are some things we're go- Catholic school, not governed by the longer formally recognize Brebeuf Jesuit port from the archdiocese, but has part- ing to miss, but it's not things that stu- archdiocese as many other Catholic as a Catholic school in the archdiocese. nered with it since its founding in 1962. dents and families will notice." schools in the city are, administrative Brebeuf receives no financial sup- Greg VanSlambrook, principal at Brian G. Paulson, provincial for the decisions are usually left to the school. School Leaders’ Statement to the Brebeuf Jesuit Community Below are excerpts from a message that was sent to the Brebeuf Jesu- science on this particular matter, but also set a concerning precedent for it Community on Thursday, June 20, 2019. For the full text, go to: future interference in the school’s operations and other governance mat- brebeuf.org/statement-to-the-brebeuf-jesuit-community/ ters that Brebeuf Jesuit leadership has historically had the sole right and privilege to address and decide. On behalf of the Board of Trustees of Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory What’s more, we also recognize the harm that adhering to this man- School, we write to share news regarding Brebeuf Jesuit’s relationship date would cause our highly capable and qualified teachers and staff. As with the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. It is our understanding that the an institution with a mission to develop men and women for others, our Archdiocese of Indianapolis, at the direction of Archbishop Charles intent has been to do the right thing by the people we employ while pre- Thompson, will no longer formally recognize Brebeuf Jesuit as a Catho- serving our authority as an independent, Catholic Jesuit school. lic school in the Archdiocese. We understand that a formal decree an- Whereas the Archdiocese of Indianapolis may choose to no longer nouncing the Archdiocese’s decision will be published in The Criteri- attend or participate in the school’s Masses and formal functions, on on or around Friday, June 21. Brebeuf Jesuit is, and will always be, a Catholic Jesuit school. The Arch- The decree follows a sincere and significant disagreement between diocese has assured us that Jesuit priests may continue to serve at the Archdiocese, on the one hand, and Brebeuf Jesuit and the USA Mid- Brebeuf Jesuit and will retain their ability to celebrate the sacraments of west Province of the Society of Jesus, on the other, regarding whether the the Catholic Church. Archdiocese or our school’s leaders should make final governance deci- As we look to the school year ahead, Brebeuf Jesuit’s Board of Trus- sions related to internal administrative matters at Brebeuf Jesuit and, in tees and school leadership will remain focused on providing an excep- particular, the employment status of our faculty and staff. Specifically, tional education within the Jesuit tradition. We are prayerfully discerning Brebeuf Jesuit has respectfully declined the Archdiocese’s insistence and how best to proceed with the process of appealing the Archdiocese’s di- directive that we dismiss a highly capable and qualified teacher due to rective. the teacher being a spouse within a civilly-recognized same-sex mar- We urge members of the Brebeuf Jesuit community to be respectful riage. of all parties involved, and we ask that you join us in keeping our stu- To our knowledge, the Archdiocese of Indianapolis’ direct insertion dents, faculty, staff and the entire Catholic community of greater Indian- into an employment matter of a school governed by a religious order is apolis in your thoughts and prayers. unprecedented; this is a unique action among the more than 80 Jesuit sec- ondary/pre-secondary schools which operate in dioceses throughout God’s blessings, North America, along with the countless Catholic schools operated by Fr. William Verbryke, S.J. – President other religious orders such as the Christian Brothers, Dominicans, and W. Patrick Bruen ’79 – Board of Trustees, Chair Xaverian Brothers. Daniel M. Lechleiter ’97 – Board of Trustees, Chair-elect After long and prayerful consideration, we determined that following the Archdiocese’s directive would not only violate our informed con- Couple creates a new scholarship for L.G.B.T. Catholics By Michael J. O’Loughlin had this revelation,” Mr. Bourke told Lourdes parish have donated to the en- By way of example, he pointed to America Magazine America. dowment, he said. news that a local Catholic high school April 2, 2019 The scholarship, which Mr. Bourke “We think that L.G.B.T.Q. young recently fired a guidance counselor after said he believes is the first of its kind in people today don’t get enough encour- a parent complained to the school she Dismayed by the negative messages the nation, will be awarded next month. agement to stay in the faith,” said Mr. was married to another woman. The L.G.B.T. Catholics often face regarding The University of Louisville, a public Bourke, a 1979 graduate of the Universi- counselor, Alison King, wrote in The their place in the church—firings of institution with nearly 16,000 undergrad- ty of Louisville. “They get too easily Courier-Journal on Mar. 21 that even L.G.B.T. workers by Catholic institu- uate students, offers six other scholar- discouraged when they read about the though she had kept her private life un- tions and the negative comments about ships aimed at L.G.B.T. students. All the discrimination that’s taking place.” der wraps during her 11-year tenure gay people from some church leaders— same, Mr. Bourke working for the school, she was fired Greg Bourke and Michael De Leon de- said he was initially after being confronted by school admin- cided to take action. The couple, who worried the creation istrators. were plaintiffs in the 2015 Supreme of the award might “They see these things happening Court case that legalized same-sex mar- generate controver- with the church—discriminating against riage in the United States, recently an- sy given the L.G.B.T.Q. people—and they think, nounced the creation of an endowed church’s teaching on ‘Why should I stay?’” Mr. Bourke said. scholarship at the University of Louis- homosexuality. But Mr. De Leon agrees. ville that will support Catholic students he said he has been “So many L.G.B.T.Q. people feel or graduates of Catholic high schools heartened by the that their faith and their sexuality is an who identify as L.G.B.T. response of the ‘either/or’ situation,” he said. “We feel “We’ve had so many talks about community. Several that even though the Catholic Church what we can do to encourage L.G.B.T.Q. of the couple’s fel- does not make it easy, young people youth to stay in the Catholic faith, to low parishioners at need to be encouraged to keep the faith remain rather than walk away, and we Our Lady of Greg Bourke and Michael DeLeon (Continued on page 6) Page 2 BONDINGS Vol. 38, No. 3 The Vatican’s New Document on Gender: B NDINGS Is There Hope? Summer 2019 Vol. 38, No. 3 Francis DeBernardo, Editor By Deacon Ray Dever But my primary interest here is not in parsing and de- Bondings 2.0 bating every detail of the document but in addressing what Board of Directors Www.NewWaysMinistry.org/blog the potential negative impact of the document may well be Jeannine Gramick, SL, Chair June 13, 2019 in practice. Imagine you are a Catholic parent with a son Dr. Jerry Fath or daughter who comes out as transgender. This awareness Ryan Sattler When I read the Vatican’s newly released document on comes after a long, painful process of their struggling with Cristina Traina gender identity in the last few days, I kept thinking about and finally embracing their authentic identity.
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