According to the
LA TIMES, the
St. John The Baptist School In Costa Mesa is under attack for allowing two 5-year old boys attend school. What's the problem? Their parents are 2 gay men...
...Eighteen people signed a letter last month demanding that St. John the Baptist School in Costa Mesa accept only families that sign a pledge to live by Catholic doctrine -- a move that effectively would kick the boys out of school. The church regards homosexual acts as sinful, and in 2003 the pontiff condemned marriage and adoption by same-sex couples...
...But Father Martin Benzoni, who oversees the 550-student elementary and middle school, last week rejected the group's demands. He released a new policy stating that a child's education comes first and that a family's background "does not constitute an absolute obstacle to enrollment in the school"...
CONTINUED --->
A follow-up story by the
AP has this response from one official...
...The Rev. Gerald M. Horan, superintendent of diocese schools, said that if Catholic beliefs were strictly adhered to, then
children whose parents divorced, used birth control or married outside the church would also have to be banned.
"This is the quagmire that the parents' position represents," he said. "It's a slippery slope to go down"...
One positive sign is that it seems to be a small minority that want a new
"inquistion" at the school. In the
LA TIMES, one parent had this response to the issue...
...It's unclear how many parents at the school are aware of the debate or how many object to the boys' enrollment. But one mother said she and several other parents support the school's decision.
"It's a shame that a minority of loonies chooses to hate instead of love," said Katie Flores, whose daughter is a classmate of the boys. "Let he [who is] without sin cast the first stone"...