SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - A central Illinois school is responding after a post from an interview candidate went viral.
According to the post by Lauren White, she was offered a teaching position at Sacred Heart Griffin High School but the offer was then revoked after the school found out she was married to a woman.
White said she knew this could be an issue going into the interview but was put at ease when the principal brought up the topic of supporting trans students and trying to make the school a more inclusive place.
She was offered the job but when she went to fill out paperwork they began talking about her spouse. After finding out that she was married to a woman the school rescinded their offer.
The school released a statement after White's post on Facebook about the incident gained traction.
On August 5, Mrs. Rapacz, Principal of SHG, interviewed a candidate for a teaching position within the foreign language department. The interview went very well and the job was offered. In the process of signing the contract, it was discovered that the candidate has a fiancé of the same sex. In keeping with Roman Catholic teaching on same sex marriage, we were unable to complete the hiring process. We recognize the difficulty of this situation and see this as a complex issue.
Sacred Heart-Griffin, along with every other Roman Catholic Institution around the globe, is standing face to face with this reality that deserves more theological reflection, growing understanding and deeper conversation. As part of a larger whole, we are bound by directives of the Roman Catholic Church regarding same sex marriage. Our employee contract reads, “Conduct that is inconsistent with the norms and dictates of the Roman Catholic Church is grounds for dismissal.”
The mission of Sacred Heart-Griffin is to educate, form, love and support all of our students. This situation does not change our mission.
White said in her post that SHG has a right to hire or not hire anyone based on religious affiliation. However, she argued that "this is a ridiculous amount of power our government have given particularly to Christian organizations."
Her full Facebook post can be found below.
The Diocese of Springfield also issued a statement.
"All teachers in Catholic schools are ministers of the Catholic faith," the organization said. "As such, they sign a contract to publicly uphold Catholic church teaching. While personnel decisions at SHG are the responsibility of the school administration, SHG made the right decision."
