Just weeks before the start of the school year, the parish pastor who oversees St. Agatha Catholic School in Southeast Portland rescinded an offer of enrollment to the children of a same-sex couple. Via Oregon Live:
The decision by the Rev. Father Luan Tran, the pastor of the neighboring St. Agatha Catholic Church, has caused an uproar in the close-knit school community, with the indignation spilling over onto social media.
Some parents said they are now considering whether they should remove their own children from a school they love, leaving behind what they characterized as uniformly excellent, inclusive teachers and staff, and an accepting, involved parent community.
[...]The family in question requested anonymity, out of concern for their safety.
But one of the parents involved said they got an email from Tran and the school’s principal in late June inviting them to a meeting to “better understand your hopes in choosing a Catholic education for your children,” ” and to share more about the “teachings of the Catholic church, especially as they relate to the mission and values that guide our school.”But when the family arrived at the meeting on July 17, the school’s principal already had a check refunding their registration fee ready to go, the parent said.
“[Tran] said that he wanted to protect young children from seeing families like ours, and that having our family be a part of the school could be perceived as a scandal,” the parent said. “He said that in Catholicism, marriage is between a man and woman, and what would it do to the other kids in the class to find out that our kids have two parents of the same sex.”
Just want to say that as someone who had 12 years of Catholic school, I don't EVER remember someone being refused admission based on the perceived sins of the parents. Although my parish was heavily Irish, I'm sure I would have heard about it if the South Philly pastors refused admission to the children of many local Mafia figures (and you can be certain none of those kids went to public school).
