Monastery cuts ties with Catholic school after hiring coach in same-sex marriage
A Catholic high school in Illinois has lost its top donor after hiring a lacrosse coach in a same-sex marriage, thereby causing concern that it has abandoned “its adherence to the doctrines of the Catholic faith.”
The Benet Academy, a Catholic high school in the Chicago suburb of Lisle, Illinois, announced that it plans to discontinue its working relationship in the coming months with St. Procopius Abbey, a Lisle-based monastery that has consistently donated to and managed the school over the years.
In a joint statement, Benet Academy Chancellor Abbot Austin G. Murphy and Benet Academy Board Chair Dennis Flynn elaborated on the development in a statement released Tuesday.
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“Events in recent months have been an occasion for the Benedictine monks of St. Procopius Abbey to examine their future relationship with Benet Academy. After much deliberation, the monks as a community have discerned that they no longer have the resources needed for governance and oversight of the Academy,” they wrote. “Currently, alternatives for the Academy’s governance are being studied. In the meantime, the Abbey will continue its role in the governance of the high school.”
The “events in recent months” that the joint statement referred to involved the hiring of Amanda Kammes as the girls’ lacrosse coach. Murphy, who also serves as abbot of St. Procopius Abbey, expressed concern about Kammes’ appointment in a Sept. 28 statement.
“After a meeting of the Benet Academy Board of Directors, the school announced on September 21, 2021 that it was hiring Ms. Amanda Kammes as the girls lacrosse coach, despite her being a same sex marriage. This reversed a previous decision not to hire her,” he stated.
Murphy said that Kammes’ appointment “raises the question of what a Catholic high school should require from those who work with and form its students,” asking, “Is it necessary that the witness of their public lives not be in opposition to Catholic moral teaching?”
The abbot answered his question in the affirmative: “I believe this requirement is necessary and, therefore am deeply troubled by the school’s decision which calls into question its adherence to the doctrines of the Catholic faith.”
“I want to let everyone know that I am taking this matter to prayer and discerning how to proceed,” he added. “It is important to note that honest disagreements about the morality of homosexual acts should not be construed as hate.”
Benet Academy’s decision to hire Kammes came in response to a letter from “students, alumni, parents and friends” of the Catholic school pushing back on its decision to rescind the job offer after finding out she was in a same-sex marriage.
“By rejecting a talented potential staff member on the basis of whom she loves, you have utterly failed to uphold the principles of dignity and charity that you purport to practice as a Christian institution,” the letter states. “We are ashamed of your narrow interpretation of Christian morality.”
The letter, addressed to Murphy, Flynn, Head of School Stephen Marth and Principal William Myers, had more than 4,100 signatures as of Thursday afternoon. After expressing “profound sympathy and solidarity with current LGBT+ students at Benet,” the signatories urged the school to reverse this decision and “implement a policy that more properly aligns with the message of love and solidarity preached by Jesus Christ.”
Marth discussed the academy’s future in a statement, pushing back on claims that the school is abandoning its practice of the Benedictine tradition altogether:
“Contrary to some reports circulating in the media earlier today, know of our steadfast commitment to ensuring that the Academy will maintain its Catholic identity, in the Benedictine tradition, for years to come.”
He indicated that “a committee composed of representatives from the Diocese of Joliet, the American Cassinese Congregation of Benedictines, the Benet Board of Directors, and the school administration will collaborate on the successful completion of this important process.”
Courts have ruled that Catholic schools have the right not to employ individuals who don’t live in accordance with the teachings of the faith. Last year, a federal judge ruled that an Indiana high school could terminate a guidance counselor in a same-sex marriage because such a relationship did not align with its religious standards for employment.
Benet Academy is not the only Chicago-area Catholic school facing backlash for appearing to embrace an ideology that directly contradicts Catholic Church teaching. Last year, Ethics and Public Policy Center scholar Noelle Mering wrote an op-ed highlighting parents’ concerns with actions taken by the Chicago-area Loyola Academy. Specifically, “students were racially segregated for school assignments on privilege.”
In response to Loyola Academy’s adoption of “woke ideology,” a group of parents started the website kidswinloyola.com, elaborating on their concerns with the school’s new curriculum.
The parents called on the school to take several steps to address their misgivings about the curriculum, specifically by being “fully transparent with parents about all curriculum and training materials used for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” and ensuring “greater participation by all parents to ensure full transparency and representation of all viewpoints.”
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
