http://www.kshb.com/lifestyle/woman-fired-by-catholic-church-for-same-sex-marriage-receives-petition-support
July 23, 2014
"A petition supporting a church employee fired for being married to a woman made it to the Diocese of Kansas City, but not without some struggle.
A petition drive in support of Colleen Simon acquired more than 30,000 signatures, said petition organizer Georgia Walker. Those who signed had asked the diocese to reinstate Simon, who was fired after "an irreconcilable conflict between the laws, discipline, and teaching of the Catholic Church...," according to a letter Simon received from the diocese after her dismissal.
Walker and other supporters attempted to hand-deliver the signatures to the diocese, but were halted once they arrived inside the church's downtown headquarters.
Somebody eventually took the signatured and promised to deliver it to Bishop Robert Finn.
"These are concerned Catholic parishoners who are all here to say we've had enough," said Walker. "We want a change. We want a change toward compassion. We want a change toward acceptance and inclusivity."
Simon married a woman in Iowa, and was fired in May after 10 months of work with St. Francis Xavier as its Parish Social Concerns Minister..."
To:
Bishop Finn
Today I have delivered a petition to
you signed by more than 25,000 individuals.
We are asking that you apologize to Colleen Simon and reinstate her to
the position at St. Francis parish. My
reasons for doing this delivery are summarized in the following paragraphs.
The Roman Catholic parishioners in
the Diocese of Kansas City-St Joseph yearn to have a bishop-shepherd who
leads with compassion, understanding, dialogue and peace. We pray for one who hears the voice of conscience
and follows gospel values of Jesus of Nazareth, who was welcoming, inclusive,
collaborative, forgiving and loving.
We are weary of actions that reflect inflexible church rules despite the
devastating consequences in the lives of sincere human beings striving to
respond to God’s call to ministry.
Colleen Simon is a gracious and
loving person with many talents who was putting those God-given talents to work
in service to the poor. Wouldn’t it be
better to sit down with her, share your concerns and hear her perspective? Instead, it appears that you callously fired
her from a ministry that she was performing with great success and much
compassion. Some of us urged you to
avoid a costly legal challenge and simply consent to enter into mediation so
that you could both express your points of view and develop an understanding of
the situation from both sides of the dispute.
Why do you refuse to talk? We
asked you to meet with the parishioners of St. Francis and those with whom she
ministers even though many were deeply wounded by your abrupt decision to fire
her.
The injustice of the discriminatory
firing deeply impacts our sisters and brothers of the Kansas City LGBT
community and makes many of them feel unwelcome in the church. Moreover, Colleen
was left with no job, no health insurance, and no access to unemployment
compensation. Why do the men who are to
gently lead the church not care enough for our own workers to participate in
the Missouri Unemployment Insurance system!
Colleen is a cancer survivor who still needs medical care. Please pray about that as you ponder why the
parishioners of this Diocese are leaving the church in droves! Please read The Nonviolent Life by
John Dear so that you might learn to act with more compassion and respect for
the dignity of all God’s people! Jesus
stood with the marginalized! Respectfully, I ask that you resign from your
position so that we can participate in a more loving and inclusive Roman
Catholic Church!
Georgia Walker gkwalker@juno.com
(816) 572-3453 1919 East 58th, KC, MO 64130
Bridget Mary's Response
"Injustice anywhere" as Martin Luther King said is "a threat to justice everywhere." The firing of Colleen Simon because she is a lesbian and married to her partner is an example of discrimination. Bishop Finn, ask yourself what would Jesus do in this situation and do it. Show compassion, reinstate Colleen and apologize. Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP, www.arcwp.org
No comments:
Post a Comment