The Apostolic Administrator of an Australian diocese is appalled at the decision by a Catholic primary school in the Wilcannia-Forbes diocese to exclude a girl because of her parents’ sexuality.
Bishop Kevin Manning said, “To penalise a five year old child because her parents are living in a homosexual relationship is just quite wrong.”
Manning said he was not aware of the situation until contacted by the media and has since been in contact with Sacred Heart School in Broken Hill and the Parish Priests to ensure that a place is available for the child.
There is “no way in the world that we can persecute a child because of what their parents did”, Manning told the Australian.
Describing the case as “most unusual” Manning has undertaken to raise the matter with the Australian Bishops’ Conference with a view to their making “some pretty clear statements.”
Labelling the schools actions as out of step with Catholic teaching he said something must have got “twisted up or misinterpreted” for them to act in this way.
The girl’s parents, one of whom was reportedly christened Catholic, enrolled her into kindergarten at Sacred Heart Primary School in Broken Hill for 2012, but their application was rejected because they are in a same-sex relationship.
Bishop manning said the Church maintained its position that homosexual relationships are wrong, but that “you can’t discriminated against a child on the grounds that the parents are in a homosexual relationship”.
“You are vesting the sins of the parents on the child – it’s quite wrong,” he said.
The couple has subsequently turned down the offer of enrolment, reports ABC News.
Under Australian law, the school’s decision to discriminate was not illegal, as churches are exempt from prosecution for breaches of the Anti-Discrimination Act.
Sources
- ABC
- The Australian
- News.com.au
- ABC
- Image: ILGA
