CALIFORNIA
National Catholic Reporter
by Dan Morris-Young | Mar. 11, 2013
The Ides of March has taken on new meaning in the Santa Rosa, Calif., diocese, where teachers and administrators have until March 15 to sign a letter of intent to renew their contracts for the 2013-2014 school year. The contracts now include an addendum requiring they agree they are “a ministerial agent of the bishop” and that they reject “modern errors” that “gravely offend human dignity,” including “but not limited to” contraception, abortion, same-sex marriage and euthanasia.
The roughly 400-word addendum requires all teachers and administrators — Catholic and non-Catholic — to “agree that it is my duty, to the best of my ability, to believe, teach/administer and live in accord with what the Catholic Church holds and professes.”
Written by Santa Rosa Bishop Robert Vasa and added at his direction, the addendum is titled “Bearing Witness.” In press reports, Vasa and Catholic school superintendent John Collins have described it as expansion and clarification of the standard faith and morals clause of the teacher contract.
“Bearing Witness” states teachers must live their lives “in conformity with the 10 Commandments” and Catholic teachers must “acknowledge” that attending Mass every Sunday and on holy days of obligation is “an especially important form of my duty to give witness to my faith.”
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