Catching up with the faithful

Earlier this month a colleague of mine at the secondary school where I served for 25 years was let go because she married her same sex partner. There is a long story to this but for my purposes suffice it to say that a decade ago I hired this young woman to teach science. It’s been six years since I worked there and she has since gone from science teacher to dean of students and athletic director. She has a tremendous work ethic and carried out the many responsibilities of these jobs with great skill, integrity and compassion. She knew early on that should she cross the clearly marked line with which the Catholic Church indicated where “sin” occurred, that diocesan officials would end her employment.


And so it happened – she and her partner went to North Carolina (not one of the six states where same sex marriage is legal); a photo made it to Facebook; the Bishop was informed and she was let go. Everything played out in the newspaper and on the Internet. While the Diocese did what current doctrine directed it to do, it is clear that there is a distinct and large group of people who believe that the time has come for all to be truly welcome at the table where Jesus invites everyone to take and eat. One of the several methods of developing church teaching is consulting and listening to the sense and the consent of the faithful (consensus fidelium). In the apparently inflexible prevailing climate in the Church, listening to the faithful could go a very long way toward closing the gap between the hierarchy and the people.