Catholic School Fires Pregnant, Unwed Teacher

She 'failed to follow Catholic lifestyle'
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 5, 2014 1:37 AM CST
Catholic School Fires Pregnant, Unwed Teacher
The Helena Diocese doesn't want unmarried pregnant women teaching its children.   (Shutterstock)

An unmarried Montana schoolteacher who became pregnant is now unemployed because she failed to "follow a lifestyle in line with Catholic teachings," the diocese says. Shaela Evenson, who has taught literature and physical education to sixth, seventh, and eighth-graders for nine years, was sacked from a private school in Butte after the diocese received an anonymous letter informing them of the pregnancy, reports the Montana Standard. Her lawyer plans to seek a civil rights charge against Butte Central Catholic Elementary School, KXLH reports.

"It's a sensitive issue, and it's unfortunate all around," the superintendent says. "The Catholic moral teaching is that the sacrament of marriage is a holy union between a man and a woman. And we certainly believe and we teach our children who attend our schools about the sacrament of marriage." Some local Catholics have complained about the firing, saying it goes against the message of Pope Francis, who baptized the child of unmarried parents in the Sistine Chapel last month, the Standard notes. (More Catholic school stories.)

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