A former Catholic school teacher, Christa Dias, is suing the Archdiocese of Cincinnati for firing her after she artificially inseminated herself to conceive a child out of wedlock, which is a violation of the teachings of the Church and of her employment contract. Meanwhile, Carla Hale continues her battle against the Diocese of Columbus after being dismissed for her making her lesbian “spousal” relationship public knowledge. In both cases, the question must be asked, why have these cases attracted so much furor on the Left? The answer may have something to do with the dreadful state of public education in our inner cities.
The Columbus Dispatch reports that Hale had a divorce and now cohabits with her lesbian partner leaving her children with a “blended” (i.e., broken) family of mom, dad, and two step-moms–or perhaps a step-aunt? The study of genealogy is notably silent on the terminology for such creative arrangements. Apparently the extended Hale family lives by the apocryphal African proverb that “it takes a village to raise a child.” Meanwhile, the AFL-CIO has vowed to join in the public intimidation of the Catholic Church, undoubtedly with their usual thuggish tactics.
These liberal forces that are attacking the Church are biting the hand that feeds the people they claim to represent. Catholic schools provide an indispensible service, especially to inner city families that cannot afford secular private schools. After decades of neglect and mismanagement under one-party rule, inner city public schools are so bad that even by the third grade, urban students are already far behind their suburban peers. Catholic schools, on the other hand, are consistently awarded for their high standards while at the same time providing tuition assistance to underprivileged youths as part of the Church’s mission of Christian charity.
Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery by Alessandro Turchi, c. 1600Charity does not mean that the Catholic Church must abandon its most sacred and central mission, which is the salvation of mankind. Contrary to the blabbering of dissidents who claim the Catholic Church is in need of liberal reforms, the Church has always been most concerned with the repentance and forgiveness of sin from the beginning when Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit upon the disciples in the upper room. However, the confession of sin must arise from a contrite heart. Jesus tells us to “go and sin no more.” He does not tell us, “do whatever makes you feel happy.” Grace alone is not enough. We must also do good works.
There is no question whatsoever that both women violated Church teachings or their contractual obligations. They certainly are not living according to the commandment of Jesus that the sacred matrimonial bond between one man and woman which is consummated in the act of procreation–the literal and figurative union of two into one flesh–must never be broken. Furthermore, the case of Christa Dias puts paid to the absurd argument offered by Carla Hale’s defenders that the Catholic Church would never fire a straight teacher for immoral conduct. Man or woman, gay or straight, sex outside of marriage is always immoral. It doesn’t matter who is doing what to whom.
However, instead of leaving this as an internal disciplinary matter, liberals are obsessed with enforcing secular values on the Catholic Church because Catholic institutions provide essential public services that threaten their power–especially in the inner city where liberals are accustomed to wielding absolute and unchallenged control. True charity given freely undermines the social engineering through coercive force which is the centerpiece of modern liberalism. Liberals believe what they say about diversity and inclusion, but they reserve a special enmity towards the Catholic Church precisely because its insistence on good works and subsidiarity is a glorious and brilliant inconvenience to the entire liberal project.