New Restrictive Employment & Ministry Policies

The following U.S. dioceses have instituted new teacher contracts for Catholic schools which require employees to promise they will not professionally or personally support same-gender relationships:

• Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Ohio
• Diocese of Honolulu, Hawaii
• Diocese of Oakland, California (revised in 2015)
• Diocese of Cleveland, Ohio  (contract includes a clause prohibiting support of gender non-conforming activity)
• Diocese of Columbus, Ohio
• Archdiocese of San Francisco (pending)

In July 2016, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia released pastoral guidelines banning people in same-gender relationships from ecclesial or liturgical ministries. The guidelines also said such relationships “produce moral confusion” in and are “undermining the faith of” parish communities. These guidelines were Chaput’s response to Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, and were called a “losing strategy” by New Ways Ministry.

When marriage equality became legal at the beginning of 2015, Archbishop Thomas Wenski of the Archdiocese of Miami, Florida, warned church employees that they should be careful not to show any public dissent from church teachings.  He sent the warning along with the Florida Catholic Conference’s statement opposing marriage equality.