Catholic Church Steps In It - Again
By Doug Edelman (11/23/05)
St. Rosa of Lima School in New York has fired a preschool teacher after she informed them she was pregnant, was keeping the baby, and had no plans to marry.
The Archdiocese defended the firing stating that the teacher had violated the teachers' personnel handbook and "the tenets of Catholic morality".
Now the teacher is suing, represented by the New York Civil Liberties Union.
The church has messed up. Again.
In an age when the church is still reeling from the pedophile priest scandal - where priests systemically were abusing kids, and were being protected by the church - they now claim the moral high ground to terminate a teacher for NOT terminating her pregnancy?
Yes, the teacher has VISIBLY violated the "tenets of Catholic morality" by being unwed, pregnant, and having no plans to marry. Yet how is the Catholic Church to uphold it's pro-life position if the church itself FIRES people who carry an unplanned and inconvenient pregnancy to term?
There are a number of issues this situation raises:
1) As a visible example of premarital sex and its consequences, she HAS forfeited her moral standing to hold a position in authority over the students in a private, tuition based Catholic parochial school. She SHOULD no longer be in a TEACHING role.
2) As a woman carrying an unplanned and inconvenient pregnancy to term, a pro-life church should extend assistance - not put her in the position where it would have been perhaps more advantageous to quietly abort than to carry to term.
3) As FIRING a woman for allowing her unplanned, inconvenient and unwed pregnancy to progress to the point of visibility would then send the message that NOT aborting can have consequences of losing one's job. terminating her job for not terminating her pregnancy is an untenable solution for the church's MORAL positions. Especially in the climate where the accusation could be leveled at the church: Be a pedophile priest, get transferred. Be a pregnant single teacher, get fired!
I would have proposed the following solution which I believe would address all the concerns:
Remove teacher from any position having authority over students, but don't fire her. Put her into an administrative role providing a service to the operation of the school. The teacher would then continue to have a job and a means to support her unborn child.
The church benefits, both by showing it's compassion, understanding and support of an unwed mother bringing an unplanned pregnancy to term; AND by still demonstrating that they hold their moral positions sacred, and that they wish only those of high character to teach the kids in their schools. The "tenets of Catholic morality" would be upheld before the students (and their paying parents), reinforcing that actions have consequences and "bad examples" are not left in authority over young minds.
Instead, the church has stepped in it one more time - to its own detriment.
Copyright © 2005 by Doug Edelman
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