{"id":46155,"date":"2015-07-08T08:47:02","date_gmt":"2015-07-08T12:47:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?p=46155"},"modified":"2015-07-09T06:41:55","modified_gmt":"2015-07-09T10:41:55","slug":"lesbian-married-to-a-woman-dismissed-from-philadelphia-catholic-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2015\/07\/lesbian-married-to-a-woman-dismissed-from-philadelphia-catholic-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Lesbian married to a woman dismissed from Philadelphia Catholic school \u2014 UPDATED"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
\n

From Philly.com:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

A religious education\u00a0director at a Montgomery County Catholic school\u2014Waldron Mercy Academy\u2014has been dismissed because, parents say, she is lesbian wedded to a woman.<\/p>\n

Many parents have voiced support for the educator, Margie Winters, director of religious education and outreach, calling her \u201cinspirational\u201d and \u201cdedicated.\u201d Now they\u2019re directing their ire not at the school and its sponsor, the Sisters of Mercy, but at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and Archbishop Charles Chaput.<\/p>\n

\"27757_10150183575040521_1485798_n\"<\/a>\u201cIt\u2019s time to get the attention of the Archdiocese and the Catholic hierarchy and let them know this is illegal,\u201d said Katie Culver, who has three children at the school.<\/p>\n

Parents and alumni will meet tonight to discuss the matter and \u201cto unify in support of Margie,\u201d Culver said.<\/p>\n

Waldron Mercy\u2019s principal, Nell Stetser, addressed Winters\u2019 dismissal in a letter Friday to parents.<\/p>\n

\u201c[O]ur school recognizes the authority of the Archbishop of Philadelphia, especially in the teaching of religion, because we call ourselves Catholic,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

Despite her \u201camazing contributions\u201d to the school in Merion Station, the school opted not to renew Winters\u2019 contract, Stetser wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cMargie certainly has enriched the lives of everyone in the WMA family . . . however, my duty is to protect our school\u2019s future,\u201d Stetser wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the Mercy spirit, many of us accept life choices that contradict current Church teachings, but to continue as a Catholic school Waldron Mercy must comply with those teachings,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

Some parents are not buying it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Read more.<\/strong> \u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

UPDATE<\/strong>: My blog neighbor Jen Fitz has more<\/a><\/strong> and links to a Think Progress report that fleshes out some of the details\u2014including underlining the news that the school reportedly knew about the teacher\u2019s situation when it hired her.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Philly.com:\u00a0 A religious education\u00a0director at a Montgomery County Catholic school\u2014Waldron Mercy Academy\u2014has been dismissed because, parents say, she is lesbian wedded to a woman. Many parents have voiced support for the educator, Margie Winters, director of religious education and outreach, calling her \u201cinspirational\u201d and \u201cdedicated.\u201d Now they\u2019re directing their ire not at the school […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[378,45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gay-rights","category-ripped-from-the-headlines"],"yoast_head":"\nLesbian married to a woman dismissed from Philadelphia Catholic school \u2014 UPDATED<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"From Philly.com:\u00a0 A religious education\u00a0director at a Montgomery County Catholic school\u2014Waldron Mercy Academy\u2014has been dismissed because, parents say, she\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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