Enrollment of Gays' Sons Roils O.C. Catholic School

[Rose Siding]

In a clash that pits Catholic teachings against shifting values of American society, a group of parishioners and parents has accused Orange County church leaders of defying Pope John Paul II by allowing a gay couple to enroll their two boys in a diocese school.

Eighteen people signed a letter last month demanding that St. John the Baptist School in Costa Mesa accept only families that sign a pledge to live by Catholic doctrine — a move that effectively would kick the boys out of school....
"This is not a radical or mean-spirited approach to Catholic education," read the letter. "It is a straightforward assurance to any prospective parent that their child will be taught the fullness of Roman Catholic doctrine."

But Father Martin Benzoni, who oversees the 550-student elementary and middle school, last week rejected the group's demands. He released a new policy stating that a child's education comes first and that a family's background "does not constitute an absolute obstacle to enrollment in the school."

Benzoni acknowledged the conflict between the two-father family and the teachings of the church, but said that the boys — both kindergarteners, adopted by a pair of Costa Mesa men — had been baptized in the faith and deserved a Catholic education....
...
It's unclear how many parents at the school are aware of the debate or how many object to the boys' enrollment. But one mother said she and several other parents support the school's decision.

"It's a shame that a minority of loonies chooses to hate instead of love," said Katie Flores, whose daughter is a classmate of the boys. "Let he without sin cast the first stone."
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-twodads2jan02,0,3188265.story?coll=la-home-local

[NashVegas]

1. I Went to Catholic School

My parents were divorced. Theoretically, that would have been grounds to boot both myself and enrolled siblings. Didn't happen.

[LibDemAlways]

3. I taught 7th and 8th grade at

a Catholic school back in the 80s. At least a quarter of the kids came from divorced families. The school also accepted non-Catholic kids as long as they were willing to attend religion class. I remember one kid whose parents had relocated from England. He earned an "A" in religion which surprised his mom who confided in me that he was "actually quite the athiest."

[iamjoy]

7. I Always Thought That Too

that it was okay for non-Catholics to attend. I thought most religious schools welcome people of all faiths, but the parents understand to a certain extent their children will be "indoctrinated" into the faith of the school.

But what if a Jewish, Muslim or Protestant wanted to enroll their child(ren)? Would this school refuse?

[DBoon]

8. No.

I went to catholic schools - there were children of protestants and one jew in the school. Definitely a minority, but no big deal otherwise

[rodeodance]

11. as long as the kids went to Mass and did the things other kids (Cath) did

it is no problem. My home town still has a Caholic school with Protestants attending. No one makes an issue of it.

[iamjoy]

14. Exactly

but this school wants to exclude children of gay parents - supposedly because they don't live according to the Catholic faith.

So, how are the children of gay parents different than children of Jews, Muslims, etc.

hypocrisy.

[Raster]

26. This is just flat-out gay baiting and yet another attempt to normalize

homophobia. This century's facist lineup features gays as the new jews. Gays--in all their sexes, shapes, colors, ages and locations--are the persecution focus group. This time even the jews get to play.

On edit: I'm not dissing jews. I also should add that by having gays as the new focus of persecution, ALL minorities elements are now welcome to participate. "Gays" will include anyone and everything outside of man and woman in the missionary having sex specifically for procreation. Pleasure is not allowed.

[ribrepin]

35. It's not the school

It's a small group of parents. The Priest in charge has ruled against excluding the boys.

"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

[Politicub]

12. The problem is the poor kid isn't aryan enough

Catholics have real issues demonstrated on how they project their own sexual urges on a kid.

Memo to bigots at the diocese -- he's just a child! Let him continue to go to your precious school.

If I were his parents, I would't want to send my lamb to such a pack of wolves.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

18. One of my Sufi sisters

sends her daughter to a Catholic school. Even when she wore full hijab (head covering, arms covered, legs covered), there was no objection. Since Sufis believe all paths lead to God, it is good to have their children learn about different faiths-and what better way than to attend a Catholic school?

[NashVegas]

9. This Was Before That, Even

Late 1960s. As for the atheist kid, well. Catechism class wasn't so much about believing as much as memorizing.

[LibDemAlways]

19. I didn't teach rote "catechism,"

but I understand your point. In the case of the athiest kid, he approached religion as a school subject like any other - learn the material and pass the test. I suspect many kids get through religion class the same way.

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. I also taught in Catholic schools

and the majority of our kids were NOT Catholic.

I don't think the church can afford to be stingy. Not with the price of tuition these days.

[ashmanonar]

28. honestly

it seems like some atheists (or at least agnostics...)know more about religion than the people who are fanatical about it...

[wellstone dem]

43. My daughter is also getting an A

despite that she tells me she is "neo-pagan"

[XanaDUer]

47. Me, too.

This priest is doing the right thing and needs to tell these X-tians to recheck Christ's teachings.

Because they are waaaaay off the beam.

[hyphenate]

2. It's always so nice

When the right to privacy for one set of people doesn't apply to another. I would surely like to get some of these assholes into a room and ask them that very question: why do you think the right to privacy is yours exclusively? If it applies for one, it applies for everyone.

[Prodemsouth]

4. :"This is not a radical or mean spirited approach to Catholic education"

Oh yeah right...that very defensive statement tells you they know what they are saying is bullshit.

[alcuno]

5. I'm convinced that Katie Flores represents the majority of Catholics.

"It's a shame that a minority of loonies chooses to hate instead of love."

[KittyWampus]

13. It's Also A Shame That The MAJORITY Of Catholics Don't SPEAK UP!!!

sorry for my mini-rant... but the Spiritual Left has got to start speaking up and putting these faux-Christian hypocrites on notice.

[alcuno]

25. We don't have a James Dobson or a Jerry Falwell.

That's who gets interviewed all the time; those slick talking church leaders. There are a few glib priests, but not a whole lot and they don't have a contingency of "followers."

[XanaDUer]

48. It's time for liberal Catholics

to start getting militant again.

The Dorothy Day Catholics need to start getting the Opus Dei group under control.

[peterh]

36. I’m actually somewhat convinced that Katie Flores….

Represents the majority of Americans, not just Catholics….it’s just that the loonies have the pulpit currently and are saying otherwise….their house of hate will inevitably implode as Americans wakeup….

[alcuno]

49. I mentioned the Catholic part because I feel as though we've been getting

a bad reputation. In blue states, Catholics voted for Kerry and in red states they voted for *.

[patdem]

6. Well, there better not be anyone taking birth control pills, either!

Birth control pills are against Catholic Doctrine also, what a bunch of hypocrits! :grr:

[rodeodance]

10. good for Father Martin Benzoni,

[rodeodance]

15. this issue teaches the kids that there are "others"!!

It is the kids who get the message that these others are somehow lesser beings!!!!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

16. To boot the boys

would be punishing them for something beyond their control. The fact that the couple, or any couple, gay or straight, choose to adopt children should be encouraged.

[knitter4democracy]

17. Don't let Opus Dei take over your school, Father!

They try this occasionally--pick a school and claim it as theirs and then pressure the school administration to make everything the way they want it. Scary stuff. Keep fighting, Father!

[yorkiemommie1]

20. i have written to Fr. Benzoni and to the Diocese

next to OC Register.

I had 12 years of Catholic school and no teacher or priest ever taught us bigotry of any kind. that was then, i guess.

[peacebird]

45. can you please give me the Fathers address?

I would love to write him and thank him for taking a stand that I personally believe Jesus would endorse.
I was also raised Catholic, and tho I left the church when they refused to baptize my son (an infant at the time, but his father and I were in process of divorcing - the priest told me that "If you can't keep your word to the holy lord Jesus in regards to the sacrament of Matrimony, how can I trust you to raise this child a Catholic?)
Funny thing is my son 12 years later CHOSE to go thru Catechism and become a Catholic. Talk about your typical teenage rebellion! LOL!

[Swamp Rat]

21. "Let he without sin cast the first stone." - Rock on sister!

:yourock:

[progressivebydesign]

22. I just wonder WHY the boys parents even WANT them to be Catholic..

I mean really, do they want their kids so twisted up emotionally learning a religion that will teach them to hate and shun their parents?? Makes no sense. Kinda like the Log Cabin Republicans, I suppose.

Religion blows. It's all about hate and exclusion.

[proud2BlibKansan]

24. Catholic schools

have a reputation of academic excellence. It's not about catechism, it's about academics.

[Journeyman]

31. And sports. . .

here in California, many of the most dominant high school sports teams are the Catholic schools.

[MountainLaurel]

50. Mmm hmmmm

Same situation in my hometown in WV -- the Catholic middle school (there were no high schools) had one of the best basketball teams and facilities. Plus, because it was a private school, it didn't have to abide by the 2.0 rule. So, it would occasionally hold back exceptional athletes so they could play another year before high school.

Of course, the school also passed students who should have been held back because it didn't want to upset families contributing a lot of money: My cousin finished 8th grade without actually learning to read, in all likelihood because the school didn't want to piss off a family that donated money and time and paid tuition for three students.

And to think that my aunt (my grandfather's sister) used to crow about the great education her grandchildren were getting at parochial school while the rest of us heathens in the extended family had to attend the apparently violence-ridden public schools.

[QC]

27. This story is a vicious lie!

California is a blue state--bigotry is only found in places like Mississippi, never in blue states!

[HockeyMom]

42. NYC Catholic School - 1950s/1960s

I went to Catholic School in Greenwich Village back in the 1950s/1960s. There were groups of boys from the school who used to go out on a Saturday night and find gays and beat them up. Fact. They used to BRAG about it. The principal of the school finally heard about it and told the priests of the church too. At all the Masses one Sunday the Priests gave a sermon on it. Something to the effect that children learn bigotry and hated from their PARENTS. We are ALL God's children, regardless of our race, religion, or sexual orientation, etc. A letter was sent out from the school to every parent saying that this behavior would not be tolerated. Those responsible would be EXPELLED. Yes, several of those boys were.

Yes, the Catholic Church certainly DOES have a LOT of problems (see my other post), but I think in this recent case, it is MORE a very small VOCAL group of parents who are causing this "problem." And given our current climate of INTOLERANCE with this ADMINISTRATION and the Jerry Falwell types, it is MAJOR news now. Feeding the anti gay, anti "moral" majority(?).

[HEyHEY]

29. Lest not lest ye be judged?

Burn in hell you fucks.

[ruggerson]

30. These Rightwing Parents Should Have Their Names Printed

In the newspapers, so that their own kids can bring pressure against them not to be homophobic, monstrous idiots.

To attack the children of gay parents and to seek to have children thrown out of school is horrendously disgusting.

These people are literally monsters walking amongst us.

[saigon68]

46. They are Nazis--They would love to see a gay man killed by a mob

Only the righteous should be rewarded-- Death to the Fags </sarcasm>

[Crunchy Frog]

32. And Jesus said "Suffer the little children to

come unto me...except for those two over there, they have the wrong kind of parents." That's how that Bible passage goes, isn't it?

"In 20 or 30 years, when they ask, 'When did Catholic schools change, when did they stop teaching the faith?"

My stepsister went to a Catholic boarding school more than twenty years ago. Our family wasn't Catholic and neither was she at the time. On top of that, both our parents were divorced from still living spouses and remarried to each other. So these schools haven't been throwing kids out for their families not living according to Catholic doctrine for a long time.

But Father Gerald M. Horan, superintendent of schools run by the Diocese of Orange, rejected the idea of a parental covenant. If the school barred gay parents from enrolling their children, they would also have to ban children of parents who violate other church teachings, including those who are divorced, use birth control or weren't married in the church, he said.

Is this group really prepared to go after all the parents who are divorced, or remarried, or use birth control? I mean, even if the parents got their marriage properly annulled, that still means that the kids are technically illegitimate doesn't it? And maybe they could make all the parents sign releases for the school to get medical information in order to be sure none of the parents are using birth control, and maybe use private investigators to stake out pharmacies in case parents might be purchasing condoms.

At any rate, I hope these people aren't expecting their school to recieve money from vouchers.

[hedgehog]

38. There are no illegitimate children in the eyes of the Church

Illegitimacy is a civil legal concept, not Church law.It probably wasn't always thus, but the Church does learn. Annulment is a way of saying people made a mistake and shouldn't be punished for it. Annulment and remarriage typically involve some counseling to help you see what went wrong so you don't make the same mistake twice. Kids are kids are kids, no matter what shape their parents' lives are in. The only bastards are the occasional nuts to be found in the Church as in any other group of humans.

[Crunchy Frog]

40. Well, that just shows how much an ignorant heathen

like myself knows about religion. Thank you for the information.

At one point my dad was planning on getting an annulment because he was briefly infatuated with a Catholic woman and wanted to marry her. I remember my mom telling us at the time that that would make us technically illegitimate. That's about the extent of my religious education.

[DRoseDARs]

33. Yes, because kindergarteners engage in full-on gay bondage sex...

Jesus tap-dancing Christ, what the Hell is wrong with these people? :thumbsdown:

[sakabatou]

34. Thank you, Father Martin Benzoni

for not bending to the will of the parishioners.

"This is not a radical or mean-spirited..." my ass.

[GOPFighter]

37. Hey, the story here is...

Father Benzoni and Katie Flores. They stood up to (and bitch-slapped!) the loonies, and justice and common sense prevailed. Let's not forget that.

[Gman]

39. The fact is that most private Catholic schools

for money reasons, can't afford to turn away anyone that will pay tuition, regardless of background. Only 18 people signed the petition. Most Catholic schools need a minimum of 180 - 200 students to survive. Assuming one child per signature, that's probably less than 10% of the enrollment. There's nutcases everywhere.

The only reason its a story is because the parents are gay. Protestant parents of Protestant children that attend this school (and you can bet the farm on the fact that there is a significant number of Protestant children in this school) would not be demanded to live the Catholic doctrine (although these same parents would probably want the Protestant children expelled if this was pointed out). If the parents were Protestant, this wouldn't merit a news story.

[HockeyMom]

41. Catholic High School

There was an incidence several years ago here on Long Island where two teachers at a Catholic High School were FIRED for violating the "morals" clause in their contract. What was their violation? One teacher got a Divorce and the other teacher got a VASECTOMY. How they found THAT ONE OUT is beyond me. But I would bet a LOT of the students' PARENTS could identify with both of those issues, especially the latter.

When the student body found out about the firings and WHY, they WALKED. Refused to go back to classes. Their PARENTS refused to pay the TUITION unless these two teachers were reinstated.

This made all the papers here. Apparently, because of all the bad publicity AND the threat of TUITION withholding, they gave in. In addition, that MORALS Clause was totally eliminated from all contracts.

Bad Publicity and MONEY will do it.

[wellstone dem]

44. Hey, I'm in the same church with

Father Martin and Katie Flores. May God bless them.

[jpgray]

51. No divorcees then? No eaters of shellfish? (nt)

[beam me up scottie]

52. Good one!