More Catholic BS

Having a church music director who also led a gay men’s chorus did not sit well with some parishioners at St. Agnes Catholic Church in Roeland Park. So they asked the pastor to remove Joe Nadeau from his church post. [...] He says he was asked to leave because he denied the pastor’s request to stop leading the Heartland Men’s Chorus, to say he would be celibate, and state that he agreed with church teaching that homosexuality is a disorder. [...]

“I’ve done nothing illegal, nothing immoral,” said Nadeau, who takes the national stage soon as musical director for the closing ceremonies in July of the Gay Games in Chicago. “I’ve kept my private life separate from my work at the church.” [...]

Nadeau, 36, came to Kansas City eight years ago to lead the Heartland Men’s Chorus. [...] He said he told the pastor, the Rev. Donald Cullen, that he led the Heartland Men’s Chorus, saying he shouldn’t be hired if that posed a problem. He was hired. (source)

It’s too bad that he can’t sue. He has no protections in Kansas, and religious organizations have long been protected from laws prohibiting discrimination. It’s too bad though. This man kept the fact that he was also director of a gay men’s choir completely separate from being music director at a Catholic Church. And, he even told them prior to his employment that he was directing the gay men’s choir, and they hired him anyway.

I could understand it if he was open about it and they didn’t know he was gay to begin with.

Here’s a bit more on it from another source.

In January, the St. Agnes Catholic Church hierarchy summoned Nadeau into a closed-door meeting, he said. Monsignor Gary Applegate told Nadeau that to continue as music director, he needed to resign from Kansas City’s Heartland Men’s Chorus, take a vow of celibacy and acknowledge that homosexuality was a disorder, Nadeau said.

“Science and psychology have taught us that homosexuality isn’t a disorder,” said Nadeau. “If I had agreed to that, I would have felt like I was being very dishonest with myself. And I think there are a lot of parishioners who feel the same way.”

Officials with St. Agnes refused interview requests, and the Archdiocese of Kansas City said it would not discuss personnel issues. (source)

Anyway you slice this, it’s messed up.