Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Seasons of Grace

Home
Catholic
Controversy at Marian High School: Firing of Pregnant Lesbian Teacher Sparks Protests

Controversy at Marian High School: Firing of Pregnant Lesbian Teacher Sparks Protests

Last updated on: January 14, 2015 at 11:13 am by Kathy Schiffer

Controversy at Marian High School: Firing of Pregnant Lesbian Teacher Sparks Protests 2015-01-14T11:13:01-05:00 Kathy Schiffer

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

There’s an important meeting happening today at Marian High School. Today Sister Mary Jane Herb, president of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHMs), will address faculty and staff at the Bloomfield Hills, Michigan school.

Sister Mary Jane will be responding to recent protests over the dismissal of Barb Webb, a chemistry teacher and coach, following disclosure of her “non-traditional pregnancy.” Webb, a lesbian, “married” her partner Kristen Las in 2012 in a ceremony in Windsor, Ontario. The school’s administration, though, either didn’t know or looked the other way at that time; only after the pregnancy did they insist that Webb’s violation of the school’s morality clause required that she either resign or be fired.

Although both the school administrators and the Archdiocese of Detroit refused to comment on the firing, citing confidentiality requirements, it appears that the precipitating factor was that Webb had become pregnant via in vitro fertilization, which the Catholic Church considers to be gravely sinful.

* * * * *

I live only a few miles from Marian High School, which has become a hot spot in the fight to normalize same-sex relationships. On Sunday, September 14, I drove over to the school to interview protesters and to meet Barb Webb and her “wife” Kristen Las.

There were about 120 protesters holding signs along Lahser Road, joining in support for the popular teacher.

I reported over at Aleteia about what I saw at the rally:

The people I met standing vigil at Marian High School were good, well-intentioned people, committed to equality and social justice. They were committed to Marian High and to its excellence in education. They welcomed student participation in the Sunday rally, but had asked the current students not to disrupt classes or skip school in protest.

But what is frustrating in the protesters’ comments and in media coverage is that Catholic teachings concerning reproductive technologies and same sex “marriage” are misunderstood, misreported or simply unexamined because they are assumed to be outmoded and erroneous.

At issue are at least three Catholic moral principles:

The Church does not teach that homosexuality is sinful, as many believe she does. Her teaching distinguishes between homosexual attraction — a disordered condition not in God’s plan for humanity but which is not in itself morally wrong — and sexual acts between persons with same sex attraction.

Same-sex marriage is a public witness to the intention of the couple to engage in sexual activity, and is a violation of Catholic moral teaching. A March 2003 statement by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) sets forth the Church’s teaching on legal recognition of same sex unions.

In vitro fertilization and other methods of reproductive technology that substitute for the natural embrace of husband and wife raise grave moral concerns: (a) prospective parents take for themselves the power which is the prerogative of God alone; (b) new human beings are created in laboratories by technicians, not through an act of love between husband and wife; biological parents (including unknown donors and even persons who are dead) are merely suppliers of eggs and sperm; and (c) the process of IVF typically entails discarding and killing nine or more human embryos for every one that survives to birth. The U.S. bishops’ Respect Life Program (2011) offers a brief, basic introduction to the Church’s teaching on IVF and similar technologies. A 2009 pastoral statement by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops presents a more extensive discussion in “ Life-Giving Love in an Age of Technology.” The CDF has addressed reproductive technologies in “ Dignitas Personae” (2008) and “ Donum Vitae” (1987).

Read the rest of my on-the-scene report here.

What remains to be seen today is whether the IHMs and their president Sister Mary Jane Herb will value “inclusiveness” and “tolerance” over their responsibility to uphold Catholic teaching at a Catholic high school.

Parents who are spending their hard-earned dollars to educate their children at a Catholic school have an expectation that the school will impart Catholic values.

* * * * *

I’ll update my report once details of today’s faculty meeting become public.

I also promise this week a fuller explanation of the Catholic Church’s teaching with regard to in vitro fertilization and why it is inherently wrong. Check back later.

Photos: Kathy Schiffer

Catholic

Catholic Higher Education

Education

Homosexuality

In Vitro Fertilization

Marriage

Political activism

Reproductive Technology

Previous Post

September 30, 2014

For the International Day of Older Persons: My Reflection on Growing Older

Next Post

October 3, 2014 This Time, It's Atheist Scalfari Who Surprises--He Asks Pope Francis for a Blessing

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category #Synod14 Abortion Abstinence Abuse Addiction Adoption Advent Adventure Advertising Aging Agnosticism All Saints Day All Souls Day Amish Anathema Angels Anglican Animals Annulment Annunciation Apocalypse Apologetics Apostles Apostleship of the Sea Apparitions Archangels Archbishop Cordileone Archbishop Dolan Archbishop Vigneron Archeology Architecture Art Art Buchwald Ash Wednesday Assisted Suicide Astronauts Atheism Athletes Babies Baptism Beatification Beauty Bible Biochemistry Bioethics Birds Bishop Lori Bishops Blasphemy Books Canon Law Canonization Capital Punishment Cardinal Burke Cardinal Dolan Cardinal George Caritas Catechesis Catechism of the Catholic Church Catholic Catholic Education Catholic Higher Education Catholic Social Teaching Celibacy Cemeteries Character Charity Chastity Cheapskate Christian Unity Christmas Churches Civil Rights Cloning Comedy Communion of Saints Community Kitchens Confession Confirmation Conscience Consequences Consistory Constitution Contraception Conversion Cooking Councils of the Church Creativity Criminal Justice Cristero War Crucifixion Crystal Cathedral Culture Death Death and Dying Death Penalty Department of Health and Human Services Diaconate Dictatorship of Relativism Dignity Disability Discrimination Dissidence Divorce Doctors of the Church Early Church Fathers Easter Economics Ecumenism Education Encyclicals Environmentalism Episcopal Church Eucharist Euthanasia Evangelism Evangelists Evangelization Evolution Excuses Facebook Faith Families Family Fashion Fasting Fatherhood Federal Government Feminism Fiction Film First Amendment First Communion For Greater Glory Forgiveness Free Speech Friends Friendship Gender Discrimination Germany Gnosticism Good Friday Government Grace Greed Gregorian Calendar Happiness Health Heaven Heresy History Holidays Holiness Hollywood Holy Land Holy Saturday Holy Spirit Holy Week Holy Year Home Sweet Home Homosexuality Hope Humanism Humility Humor Imagination Immaculate Conception Immigration Impulsivity In Vitro Fertilization Incarnation Indulgences Infallibility Internet Islam Italy Jerusalem Jesus Judaism Justice Kathleen Sebelius Labor Movement LCWR Lent Life Literature Liturgy Lourdes Love Magi Marketing Marriage Martyrdom Martyrs Mary Mass Media Medical Ethics Mexico Michigan Miracles Missionaries Modernism Modesty Monks Monothelitism Motherhood Movies Mushrooms Music Muslim Mystery Mysticism Mythology Nativity Natural Law Nature New Evangelization New Media New Year New Year's Resolutions Nostalgia Obscenity Occult Old Testament Origen Orthodox Orvieto Pallium Papacy Parenting Patience Patriarch Bartholomew Patriotism Peace Peace and Justice Penitence Pentecost People Persecution Philosophy Poetry Political activism Political Correctness Politics Polls Pop Culture Pope Benedict XVI Pope Francis Pope John Paul II Pope John XXIII Pope Paul VI Pope St. Pius X Pope Urban VII Population Prayer Preaching Prejudice Pride Priesthood Pro-Life Protestantism Psychology Purgatory Queenship of Mary Racism Rape Real Presence Reconciliation Reformation Relics Religious Religious Liberty Reliquary Renewal Reproductive Technology Resurrection Rights Romance Rome Royalty Sacraments Sacred Heart Saints Satanism Science Science Fiction Scripture Seal of Confession Secularism Seniors September 11 Seventy Times Seven Sexuality Sharks Sin Smoking Social Communications Social Justice Social Networking Social Sciences Space Exploration Spirituality Sports St. Luke St. Patrick's Day St. Paul St. Peter St. Teresa of Avila Stations of the Cross Steve Jobs Superstition Supreme Court Symbolism Synod Technology Teen Rebellion Television Terrorism Thankfulness Thanksgiving Theology Think This, Not That Tobit Toilets Toys Tradition Traditions Transplants Travel Trinity Twitter U.S. Air Force Uncategorized United Nations USCCB Valentine Vatican Vatican Archives Vatican Blogfest Virtue Vocations Where We Pray White Heart Women World Day of Social Communications World Meeting of Families World News World Youth Day Worship Writing Year of Consecrated Life Year of Faith Year of Mercy Youth

Select a Month December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: Paul instructed Titus that the grace of God teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions.

Select your answer to see how you score.

TRUE FALSE