The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports on an incident near Pittsburgh where a music director was fired because she was married to someone who had been a priest at one point and then left without formally becoming laicized:
[The Rev. Ed Wichman] invoked the “cardinal’s clause,” which, in part, prohibits people whose marriages are not recognized by the church from holding church positions.
This is important because we are dealing a doctrine that is far broader than simply marrying ex-priests: anyone whose marriage fails to conform to Catholic standards is prohibited from hold any sort of position with Catholic churches — even a position like secretary or groundskeeper. A Protestant secretary who divorces and remarries can, in theory, be fired.
The position of music director is more involved with religious issues in the church, though, so it’s entirely understandable that they would want to take a stricter line with that than if we were talking about the person who mowed the lawn.
We should also keep in mind that when people argue for religious organizations being allowed to discriminate on the basis of religious doctrines when administering government programs, this is the sort of thing they have in mind. If such discrimination is allowed, then someone like Pleczkowski could be fired not just from a position in a church, but also from positions in government-funded job training programs or welfare programs. Does that sound like a good public policy?
Pleczkowski married her husband, Robert, in a Methodist church about 20 years ago. He now is a priest in the Polish National Catholic Church. ... St. James announced Sunday that Pleczkowski was “moving on” from her post. [...]
The Rev. Robert Pleczkowski planned to become a priest in the Pittsburgh Diocese and was working at St. Winifred in Mt. Lebanon when he met his future wife, friends and relatives said. The couple married a short time later, but Robert Pleczkowski did not ask the Vatican to reduce his standing in the Catholic church to that of layman. He joined the Polish National Catholic Church because it allows priests to be married, friends and relatives said. ...
Pastors at local Polish National Catholic churches said they were surprised by her firing. There is a reciprocal agreement between the two denominations under which they can share Communion.
The fact that Pleczkowski is an active priest with the Polish National Catholic Church makes this situation a bit more problematic than it first appears. If Pleczkowski wasn’t doing anything religious, or if he were a priest at a break-away church not recognized by the Vatican, then the firing would make some sense. Because he is an active priest in a church which the Vatican recognizes as a legitimate church and with which the Vatican has a reciprocal agreement, though, why are they taking a hard line?
Also disturbing is the statement that Mrs. Pleczkowski was “moving on” from her position. Why not simply say the truth, which is that she was fired because she is married to a man who was a priest, did not become laicized, and who is now a legitimate priest with a recognized Catholic church? If the policy and decision here are legitimate, there’s no good reason not to stand by them publicly.
Is there any chance that they don’t want to draw attention to the fact that the Vatican recognizes the legitimacy of married Catholic priests in other Catholic churches? This might be the most logical explanation — the Vatican already discourages married Eastern Rite Catholic priests from coming to America. Still, if a church wants to be a moral leader in a community, they undermine their goals by not being forthright with the whole truth in a situation like this.
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