Guilherme Ferreira Araújo
The Spanish Diocese of the Canary Islands is in the news after it announced that it would not renew the contract of Catholic religious educator, Luis Alberto Gonzalez.
Gonzalez abandoned the priesthood of the Catholic Church due to his disagreement on doctrinal issues, but has nevertheless remained employed as a Catholic religion teacher for the past 15 years.
Two years ago, when Mr. Gonzalez “married” another man, he notified the bishop of his diocese, Francisco Casas, in order to allow the diocese to make a decision about whether to renew his employment contract. “I considered it appropriate to send a letter to the bishop to explain my situation and to show that I understood that I would be discharged because of the determinations of the Code of Canon Law” Gonzalez told Spanish newspaper El Pais.
Religious education in public schools is one of the last remaining areas of public influence of the Catholic Church in Spain, a country which traditionally had very little separation between church and state.
While the population in Spain has followed the cultural trend in the rest of Europe and fallen away from the Catholic faith, the state still allows the Catholic Church to directly provide non-mandatory religious education within public schools.
This tension between church and state has led to numerous lawsuits, especially in relation to Catholic education and the teaching of the Church on homosexuality.
Yet, despite Gonzalez’s open defiance of the requirements of Catholic church, and possibly under the fear of litigation, the diocese of The Canary Islands allowed Gonzalez to continue at his post as a Catholic religious educator for two years after his “marriage”.
According to Gonzalez, that changed last week after he wrote a letter to the editor of the largest newspaper in Spain, El Pais, titled Good News. In the letter, Gonzalez explained that the diocese was implicitly blessing his homosexual lifestyle by allowing him to remain as an approved Catholic religion teacher.
After publication of his letter to the editor, in a private letter made public by Mr. Gonzalez, the diocese of The Canary Islands informed him, “for doctrinal reasons, and according to canon law, he was no longer an ideal candidate to engage as a religious educator.”
Mr. Gonzalez acknowledged that “I knew this could happen and if it happened, so be it” but asked “that they fire me outright so that I can apply for unemployment, after that I will look out for myself.”
The story that the diocese is telling is slightly different. They say that last May, Vicar General Hipolito Cabrera had sent a letter to the local Ministry of Education stating that Gonzalez would no longer be authorized as a Catholic religious educator. “I did so based on canon law 804 and 805” stated Mr. Cabrera, and added that “Mr. Gonzalez himself requested not to be appointed as a Catholic religious educator.” Cabrera concluded that “it is now up to the Ministry of Education to decide what will happen, but they have still not given an answer.”
Gonzalez has not yet indicated whether he will file a lawsuit against the diocese. But it seems unlikely at this time, as the grounds for a lawsuit would only be present if he were fired, something that the Ministry of Education and not the Catholic Church would undertake.
As of last month, and despite the decision of the diocese of The Canary Islands to remove his Catholic educator teaching credentials, the Ministry of Education which actually employs Mr. Gonzalez still listed him as employed and eligible to teach Spanish children about the Catholic faith.
