Why Catholic Schools Shouldn't Punish Children of Gay Parents
Somebody better hand the Archbishop of Denver a shovel. It's been just about a week since a Catholic school in Boulder, Colorado told a Kindergartner and a pre-school student that because their parents were two mommies, they wouldn't be allowed to stay in school with their friends. Showing five- and four-year-olds the door is never a very popular decision, given that we're supposed to be trying to make this world a better, more tolerant place for our children.
And the Archdiocese is getting flak for this. Dozens of protestors stood outside Sacred Heart Church in Boulder this past Sunday, protesting the Catholic Church's decision to punish children. And today the Archbishop of Denver, Charles Chaput, used his weekly column to try and offer some damage control for the decision. It's not that the Church thinks children of gay parents are less loved by God, Chaput writes. It's just that the Church thinks children of gay parents are a violation of Catholicism, and deserve to be shown the exit from Catholic schools.
The Church has not only veered dramatically right in recent years, they've practically switched time zones. And Archbishop Chaput has helped them get there. In the 1990s, the U.S. Bishops Conference issued a rather eloquent statement on LGBT issues and the Church, "Always Our Children." In that statement, the Church clung hard to its position that same-sex marriage is not cool; but the Church also expressed a fairly profound amount of dignity for LGBT people (at least by conservative religious standards). The document goes so far as to say that "Every person has an inherent dignity because he or she is created in God's image," no matter what their sexual orientation.
But apparently when it comes to Catholic schools in Colorado, God's image is only reserved for children with heterosexual parents. Always Our Children? Maybe they should consider revising the title of the document to "Always Our Children of Straight Parents Only."
"What the Church does teach is that sexual intimacy by anyone outside marriage is wrong; that marriage is a sacramental covenant; and that marriage can only occur between a man and a woman," Archbishop Chaput writes in his weekly column. "These beliefs are central to a Catholic understanding of human nature, family and happiness, and the organization of society. The Church cannot change these teachings because, in the faith of Catholics, they are the teachings of Jesus Christ."
Funny, but I don't seem to remember the part in the Bible where Jesus spoke about gay marriage, or where Jesus told only the children of straight parents that they would be welcome at the table.
What's sad about Chaput's column is not that he feeds into the Catholic Church as a monolithic anti-gay force. Chaput has worked at that for years, and frankly, it's surprising it has taken him this long to start expelling students with gay parents. It fits a pattern with this Archbishop, who could arguably be labeled the most right-wing Catholic leader in the country (just look at his activism since 2004 to deny Communion to Catholics who support gay marriage).
No, what's sad about Chaput's column is that there's no realization whatsoever that his Archdiocese's decision to remove these two students from school might negatively impact the two children involved. It means separating them from friends, it means separating them from teachers, and it means making these two students pawns in the institutional Catholic Church's chess match against LGBT people. This is nothing more than a cold and calculating decision by the Church, with Archbishop Chaput trying to wrap a rather homophobic action in supposed theological cloak.
I'm not sure what would possess gay parents to send their children to Catholic schools, but I trust the parents were placing the best interests of their children above any political differences with the Catholic Church. It's a shame the Church can't do the same, and place the interests of children ahead of their own institutional political games.
And the Archdiocese is getting flak for this. Dozens of protestors stood outside Sacred Heart Church in Boulder this past Sunday, protesting the Catholic Church's decision to punish children. And today the Archbishop of Denver, Charles Chaput, used his weekly column to try and offer some damage control for the decision. It's not that the Church thinks children of gay parents are less loved by God, Chaput writes. It's just that the Church thinks children of gay parents are a violation of Catholicism, and deserve to be shown the exit from Catholic schools.
The Church has not only veered dramatically right in recent years, they've practically switched time zones. And Archbishop Chaput has helped them get there. In the 1990s, the U.S. Bishops Conference issued a rather eloquent statement on LGBT issues and the Church, "Always Our Children." In that statement, the Church clung hard to its position that same-sex marriage is not cool; but the Church also expressed a fairly profound amount of dignity for LGBT people (at least by conservative religious standards). The document goes so far as to say that "Every person has an inherent dignity because he or she is created in God's image," no matter what their sexual orientation.
But apparently when it comes to Catholic schools in Colorado, God's image is only reserved for children with heterosexual parents. Always Our Children? Maybe they should consider revising the title of the document to "Always Our Children of Straight Parents Only."
"What the Church does teach is that sexual intimacy by anyone outside marriage is wrong; that marriage is a sacramental covenant; and that marriage can only occur between a man and a woman," Archbishop Chaput writes in his weekly column. "These beliefs are central to a Catholic understanding of human nature, family and happiness, and the organization of society. The Church cannot change these teachings because, in the faith of Catholics, they are the teachings of Jesus Christ."
Funny, but I don't seem to remember the part in the Bible where Jesus spoke about gay marriage, or where Jesus told only the children of straight parents that they would be welcome at the table.
What's sad about Chaput's column is not that he feeds into the Catholic Church as a monolithic anti-gay force. Chaput has worked at that for years, and frankly, it's surprising it has taken him this long to start expelling students with gay parents. It fits a pattern with this Archbishop, who could arguably be labeled the most right-wing Catholic leader in the country (just look at his activism since 2004 to deny Communion to Catholics who support gay marriage).
No, what's sad about Chaput's column is that there's no realization whatsoever that his Archdiocese's decision to remove these two students from school might negatively impact the two children involved. It means separating them from friends, it means separating them from teachers, and it means making these two students pawns in the institutional Catholic Church's chess match against LGBT people. This is nothing more than a cold and calculating decision by the Church, with Archbishop Chaput trying to wrap a rather homophobic action in supposed theological cloak.
I'm not sure what would possess gay parents to send their children to Catholic schools, but I trust the parents were placing the best interests of their children above any political differences with the Catholic Church. It's a shame the Church can't do the same, and place the interests of children ahead of their own institutional political games.
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