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Volunteer "job" become subject of Ontario Human Rights Tribunal hearing * 15 Jul 2009 A gay man has filed a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal against a Catholic bishop after he was removed from his volunteer job as an altar server because of his sexual orientation. The case is the latest involving the tribunal to address whether church doctrine should be subject to review by a secular body. Jim Corcoran was asked earlier this year to step down from his role at St. Michael’s church in the town of Cobourg, Ont., — about 100 kilometres east of Toronto — after 12 of his fellow parishioners complained to the Diocese of Peterborough. “In their letter, the group had tried to establish that I am married to my same-sex partner, that I am a homosexual leading an open homosexual lifestyle, and they implied I may be in relationship (with my priest),” Corcoran wrote. “(The parishioners) have used their distaste toward homosexuality to limit my right to serve the church.” In an interview, Corcoran said he was told by his parish priest in April that he and his partner would have to end their altar duties. He said it was Bishop Nicola De Angelis’s decision and not the priest’s. Corcoran added that he and his partner of 19 years have been chaste for years, which makes the decision to remove them even more difficult to comprehend. Corcoran’s partner does not want to be named and did not file a complaint with the tribunal. The Catechism of the Catholic church says homosexuals “must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity. (And) every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.” But it adds that “homosexual persons are called to chastity”
because homosexual sex is an act of “grave depravity.” Gerry Lawless, a member of St. Michael’s for 50 years, said he and 11 others signed the letter because they believed that having Corcoran and his partner as altar servers violated church policy. Corcoran, 50, said he is seeking $20,000 from each parishioner and $25,000 from the bishop. He said he wants the money to be donated to a charity of his choice. The respondents have until July 28 to file with the tribunal, after which it will be decided whether a hearing is needed. A phone call to the Diocese of Peterborough was not immediately returned. Corcoran’s complaint has caused the Catholic Civil Rights League to send an open letter questioning whether the tribunal has jurisdiction in this matter. “Without commenting on any individual personnel situation or personalities that are involved in this case, the relationship between the church and altar servers has none of the attributes that would make it a subject for a complaint to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal,” Joanne McGarry, the group’s executive director, wrote on Monday. Last year, the tribunal ordered Christian Horizons — a religious social agency that cares for 1,400 severely disabled residents — to pay damages to an employee who was fired for entering into a lesbian relationship. Even though the woman signed a morals clause agreeing to the group’s beliefs, the tribunal still called it discrimination. The judgment is being appealed. Some observers said at the time that a religious social agency should be able to set its own hiring practices in regards to issues of faith.
CAN WEST NEWSGROUP
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