Kudos to the Catholic Diocese of Orange County, California for standing up to parents who were in a snit because a Catholic school admitted two boys into kindergarten who were (gasp!) the adopted children (eek!) of a gay couple (swoon!).
The group demanded that St. John the Baptist School in Costa Mesa accept only families that pledge to abide by Catholic teachings, the Los Angeles Times reported in Sunday’s editions. Church doctrine opposes gay relationships and adoption by same-sex couples.
“The teachings of the church seem to have been abandoned,” John R. Nixon told the Times. “We send our children to a Catholic school because we expect and demand that the teachings of our church will be adhered to.”
I think the diocese will be the first to stand up and say that they will not marry any gay couples, or sponsor adoptions by same. But they’re also not going to treat the children as pariahs.
School officials rejected the demand, and issued a new policy stating that a family’s background “does not constitute an absolute obstacle to enrollment in the school.”
The Rev. Gerald M. Horan, superintendent of diocese schools, said that if Catholic beliefs were strictly adhered to, then children whose parents divorced, used birth control or married outside the church would also have to be banned. “This is the quagmire that the parents’ position represents,” he said. “It’s a slippery slope to go down.”
Indeed. And a thousand blessings on Fr. Horan for (a) being aware of it, and (b) acting on it.
Or, as Jesus might have said in the situation, “Let the one among you without sin issue the first expulsion slip.”
Not that such a consideration has swayed some of the complainers:
Some parents have promised to ask the Vatican to intervene and some have threatened to pull their children from the school. Others are worried the boys’ attendance will set a precedent, saying their presence is part of a larger effort by the gay community to change the church.
“The boys are being used as pawns by these men to further their agenda,” said Monica Sii, who has four children at the school.
Right. Next thing you know, those wicked gay men will be (shudder!) coming to parent-teacher conferences! Where will it end? Making evil gay cookies for the school bake sale!? The horror!
(via Les)