Eight California lawmakers last week urged the head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco to withdraw the “morality clauses” he unveiled this month in a handbook for high school teachers and to reverse his intention to redefine teachers as “ministers” in their employment contracts.
The letter to Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone from five members of the state Assembly and three state senators said the new conditions for employment at four high schools run by the archdiocese “conflict with settled areas of law and foment a discriminatory environment in the communities we serve.”
The archbishop has spurred protests with his addition to the handbook, which guides nearly 500 school employees, because it focuses almost exclusively on sexual morality in language many consider harsh.
