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Indiana court sides with Catholic Church; dismisses lawsuit of  teacher fired for being in same-sex civil union

Indiana court sides with Catholic Church; dismisses lawsuit of teacher fired for being in same-sex civil union

May 8, 2021
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Indiana court sides with Catholic Church; dismisses lawsuit of teacher fired for being in same-sex civil union

"The government cannot punish the Archdiocese for telling a Catholic school what rules it needed to follow in order to remain a Catholic school", says law firm defending the Archdiocese.

Damian Goddard by Damian Goddard
May 8, 2021
in Breaking News, Culture
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Indiana court sides with Catholic Church; dismisses lawsuit of  teacher fired for being in same-sex civil union
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Last updated on May 9th, 2021 at 08:45 pm

In the case of Kompier v. Thegza of March 1, 1938, the Indiana Supreme Court stated, “No power save that of the church can rightfully declare who is a Catholic.” That notion was upheld Friday, as the Marion Superior Court of Indiana dismissed the case of a Catholic teacher who was suing the Archdiocese for wrongful dismissal after it was revealed he had been in a same-sex civil union.

This signals not only a victory for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, but a rather large win for religious freedom in America.

Joshua Payne-Elliott, a teacher at Cathedral Catholic High School, entered into a same-sex civil union in 2017. In doing so, he violated not just his employment agreement with the Archdiocese but went against 2,000 years of Catholic teaching and tradition. The Archdiocese asks all new hires to sign an agreement to uphold Church teaching in both professional and private lives. When it became known that Payne-Elliott was in a “civil union” with another man, the Church began the process of trying to reconcile the best road forward with both the teacher and the school. The high school was confronted with the decision that if it wanted to remain Catholic, it could not continue employing teachers openly opposing Church teaching.

The process of trying to find a solution lasted almost two years. When Cathedral Catholic notified Payne-Elliott that they would continue to be affiliated with the Catholic Church and abide by the Archdiocese’s mandate, the teacher sued in state court alleging that the Church’s policy of requiring its Catholic schools to uphold Catholic teaching was illegal.

Serving as counsel for the Archdiocese was The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty; a non-profit, public-interest legal and educational institute with a mission to protect the free expression of all faiths.

Becket and the United States Department of Justice argued that “the First Amendment bars civil courts from punishing the Catholic Church for establishing rules for Catholic schools. After an initial ruling that the lawsuit could proceed, the case was appealed to the Supreme Court of Indiana, which sent it back to the lower court to consider Becket’s arguments. On May 7, 2021, the Marion Superior Court of Indiana dismissed the case, ruling in favor of the Archdiocese.”

Ultimately, this is an easy case. If the First Amendment means anything, it means the government can’t punish the Catholic Church for asking Catholic educators to support Catholic teaching.

— Luke Goodrich (@LukeWGoodrich) May 7, 2021

For over 175 years, the Archdiocese of Indianapolis has been committed to teaching the Catholic faith. It provides tens of millions of dollars in vital social services to people in central and southern Indiana, operating a number of schools that provide safe, high-quality education to thousands of low-income students. But it’s not the first time the Archdiocese has had to grapple with the issue of Catholic teachers defying Catholic teaching. In July 2019, the Archdiocese settled out of court with a teacher who was involved in a same-sex “marriage”. The previous year, a gay guidance counselor at Roncalli High School was placed on administrative leave because of her marriage to another woman. Shelly Fitzgerald and another gay guidance counselor, Lynn Starkey, were eventually let go from Roncalli. Starkey is also in a same-sex marriage. 

Tags: Archdiocese of IndianapolisCatholic ChurchCivil UnionshomosexualityReligious Freedomsame sex marriage
Damian Goddard

Damian Goddard

Damian Goddard is a veteran television, radio, and internet broadcaster who garnered international headlines in May 2011 after taking to Twitter in defence of "the traditional and TRUE meaning of marriage".  Not twenty four hours after delivering the tweet, he was fired from his job as anchor for Rogers Sportsnet; one of Canada's two network sports broadcasters.  Damian's extensive broadcast experience also includes work as a news anchor at Sun News Network, a talkshow host at NewsTalk 1010 CFRB in Toronto, and ample experience in the sports realm working for the CBC, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (lead host at Raptors NBA TV and LeafsTV), and The Fan 590 in Toronto.  A history major with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Western Ontario and a devout Roman Catholic, Damian is passionate about world and cultural affairs, the history and future of the Catholic Church, and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

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