Labour Board rules
against diocese

Bishop can’t enforce Catholic
standards on teachers: panel

KEVIN HEINRICHS
CW Managing Editor
- Fort St. John, B.C. -

Does a Catholic school teacher need to hold Catholic values? Only when that teacher is in the classroom, according to a recent ruling by the British Columbia Labour Relations Board.

Outside school, a Catholic bishop has no authority to judge the acceptability of a person's lifestyle. That’s the essence of a ruling handed down last month to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Prince George in northern B.C.

The diocese had closed down Immaculata Catholic Independent Elementary School in Fort St. John last summer because teachers refused to accept a so-called "Catholicity clause," which would have given the diocese authority to discipline or fire a teacher who acts contrary to Catholic teaching both inside and outside the classroom. Teachers were required to behave according to Catholic teachings "at all times," refraining from homosexuality, abortion and pre-marital sex.

Teachers balked at letting a bishop decide whether they should be fired from their job as a teacher, especially if it is based on behaviour outside the classroom.

The labour board agreed, ruling the bishop only has authority to develop standards for Catholic teachers, but not the authority to impose discipline on those who contravene the standards. Rather, the Board said that a neutral third party should have the final say on such matters.

In its ruling, the panel ordered the diocese to pay compensation to teachers who lost their jobs, and to cover costs associated with the contract bargaining that led to this dispute. The board stopped short, however, of insisting that the school be reopened.

George Heyman, president of the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union, urged the diocese to reopen the school. He insists that the school board’s behavioral guidelines are unrealistic. "They’re requiring teachers to be practising Catholics to an extremely high standard that even most Catholics do not maintain," he told The Globe and Mail.

The diocese intends to appeal the ruling and, if unsuccessful, will pursue the matter in court.