St. Louis Archdiocese practices religious liberty by firing popular St. Ann's music teacher for upcoming civil marriage; 'many' parents upset

Al Fischer, a popular music teacher at St. Ann Catholic School in north St. Louis County in Normandy was to be fired by the St. Louis Archdiocese March 9, on the 20th anniversary of his relationship with Charlie Robin, and the date of his their civil marriage in New York; instead the dismissal was moved ahead to February 17th after Robin posted the news to his Facebook page.

The Bully's pulpit: Archbishop Robert J. Carlson
presides over firing of music teacher while
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Robin told Elizabeth Holland of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Fischer was fired after a representative of the St. Louis Archdiocese overheard him talking to coworkers about his wedding plans.

     Asked about the Archdiocese's role in the firing, a spokeswoman replied in an email that the Archdiocese "fully supports the action taken at St. Ann Parish School as it is in full compliance with the Christian Witness Statement signed by every educator in the Catholic school system."

     The Rev. Bill Kempf, St. Ann's pastor, said in an emailed statement that "As a violation of the Christian Witness Statement that all Catholic educators in the Archdiocese of St. Louis are obliged to uphold, we relieved this teacher of his duties."

     ...Robin said..."We just didn't realize we were making a 'public' stand," ... It doesn't matter until somebody with the Archdiocese is sitting in the room."

     Fischer's firing comes on the heels of a Jan. 11 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that gives churches and their schools broad powers over employees...

     Fischer's firing is similar to the termination of a Catholic church employee in Charlotte, N.C last month.

     One parent at St. Ann Catholic School who asked not to be identified said many parents were upset over Fischer's firing ... others with ties to the school told the Post-Dispatch that Fischer's sexual orientation was well-known.

     ...In his letter to parents, Fischer wrote: "I think the word has been well spread that this is not the fault of St. Ann School or its leadership, and I want to emphasize that I get that, too."

AKSARBENT thinks the duplicity of claiming respect for an individual even while depriving him of his livelihood is exceeded only by the Machiavellian duplicity of the Catholic hierarchy of having that action instigated behind the scenes by the Archdiocese and then preposterously crediting the school itself.