The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has reaffirmed the right of a Catholic school to employ only teachers who live according to the moral teachings of the Catholic Church., the court affirmed that the Diocese of Charlotte was well within its rights to fire Lonnie Billard, a former English and drama teacher at Charlotte Catholic High School who was living in a same-sex relationship, in violation of Catholic moral teaching.
“Even as a teacher of English and drama, Billard’s duties included conforming his instruction to Christian thought and providing a classroom environment consistent with Catholicism,” the three-judge panel that included one Republican and two Democratic appointees wrote. “The record makes clear that CCHS considered it ‘vital’ to its religious mission that its teachers bring a Catholic perspective to bear on Shakespeare as well as on the Bible.
The ruling fits into several Supreme Court precedents that have repeatedly upheld religious freedom protections, even when this right has seemingly been in tension with federal civil rights law. The ministerial exception itself was a product of the Supreme Court’s 2012 ruling inCLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER