Teachers and students at four Catholic high schools that are administered by the Archdiocese of San Francisco shouldn't be surprised by the details in the revised handbook released last week requiring teachers and other employees to follow the Catholic Church's doctrines �" or else. The real surprise is that anti-gay Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone didn't issue it sooner, say immediately upon his arrival in the city in 2012. The part of the handbook that has upset many centers on the so-called morality clause that calls gay sexual relations "gravely evil," along with sex outside of heterosexual marriage, viewing pornography, and masturbation. The morality clause requires school staff to "affirm and believe" the controversial statements as well as marriage between one man and one woman, despite California law that allows same-sex marriage.
You could hear the howls of protest as soon as news broke of the revised handbook, but, as Cordileone said, none of the material is new. Nor, for that matter, does it appear that any of the content contradicts Pope Francis, who despite a significantly gentler tone than San Francisco's archbishop, has not moved to change any of the church's policies regarding gays and marriage or gays in general. In short, the Catholic Church doesn't like us, and certainly won't be revising its tenets anytime soon. So while to us Cordileone's position is completely wrong, it's entirely consistent with the Vatican, and in the archbishop's view, that's all that matters. The pope must have heard of the dust-up over the handbook, and the calls for him to remove Cordileone and replace him with someone more like himself. But even if that were to happen, a new archbishop would have to believe in the church's teachings, handbook or not. He just might be more pleasant about it.
Religiously-affiliated schools are allowed wide latitude in how they operate; they do not fall under the same non-discrimination statutes as public schools, nor do they need to adhere to state laws like AB 1266, which ensures that transgender students can fully participate in all school activities, sports teams, programs, and facilities that match their gender identity. Staff at religiously affiliated schools should not be surprised that churches can set guidelines mandating their beliefs as terms of employment. On the flip side, such schools do not receive public funding, so taxpayers aren't footing the bill for discrimination.
Cordileone's release of the revised handbook seems timed to contract negotiations with the Catholic high school staff and its union. The most problematic part of the handbook requires teachers to be designated as "ministers," which might affect their right to bargain collectively, as union representatives pointed out. Defining teachers as ministers, which we disagree with, implies that they are controlled by and support church doctrine and could, as the San Francisco Chronicle reported, have legal implications in terms of future job security.
Mostly, Cordileone's handbook will hurt students who want to come out, as teachers will be severely limited in what they can do to help them. It will encourage students to stay closeted longer �" never a good thing �" and make teachers jittery about being supportive and discussing LGBT subjects. The archbishop's actions come at the expense of an honest and tolerant atmosphere.
If Cordileone thinks that his handbook will instill anti-gay attitudes in students, we think he'll be disappointed. They likely have gay friends and don't see same-sex marriage as "evil" or wrong. Last year when a lesbian San Francisco Catholic school student's yearbook photo initially was omitted because she wore a tux, her friends rallied around her, wearing ties in solidarity. We see more demonstrations of support like that occurring, not fewer.
And, parents can always opt to send their children to other schools, thereby depriving Catholic schools of what they need most �" paying students.