KANSAS CITY (MO)
Pitch
Posted By Steve Vockrodt on Thu, Jul 17, 2014
A former pastoral associate at St. Francis Xavier Church sued the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph and its bishop, Robert Finn, on Thursday, alleging that she was fired after The Kansas City Star published an article that referenced her same-sex marriage.
Colleen Simon says priests at St. Francis Xavier knew about her 2012 marriage in Iowa to the Rev. Donna Simon, of St. Mark Hope and Peace Lutheran Church, when she was hired there, only to then use the relationship later as a justification for firing her.
A lawsuit filed in Jackson County Circuit Court asks to get her job back and receive back pay and other damages. Simon ran the church’s food pantry located near Rockhurst University, a role that seemed to fit a larger Catholic scripture that calls on members to assist the needy.
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