But you know me...

Like many of you, I was stunned by the firing of Margie Winters from her teaching position at Waldon Academy in Philadelphia, PA. After eight years of excellent teaching, after eight years making a making a positive impact in the lives of students and parents, Margie was fired because she is married to a woman.

The injustice is multilayered and painful at each turn. Even the Sisters of Mercy, who sponsor the school, made a statement that they would have fired her if the administration hadn’t. It simply took my breath away when I found out Margie is an associate with the Mercy Sisters. For some people, this might not sound like a big deal, but trust me, it is. I am an associate with a Franciscan community in Wisconsin. I met with my sponsor, studied, prayed, and discerned for two years before I made my commitment. It was a decision I did not make lightly. I stood in the chapel and spoke my covenant, hearing the responses of support and mutuality from all the sisters and associates present at my ceremony. Eighteen years later, I continue the work of embodying Franciscan values in my daily choices and modeling my life to live as a Gospel person, following the footprints of Francis and Clare of Assisi. While not a member of the congregation, my heart is deeply connected to the sisters and associates. Perhaps because I treasure my associate relationship as a spiritual home, where all people are welcome, the fact that Margie’s Marcy sisters publicly turned their backs on her hurts me, too.

Jesus promises in the Gospels that we are not alone, yet I can only image how alone Margie and her wife Andrea might have felt after being cast out from her job, her church, and her community. Please join me in clearly stating that this is not right by telling our Church leaders that firing someone for their same-sex relationship is not congruent with the Gospel values of mercy and justice: 

Sr. Patricia Vetrano, President of the Mid-Atlantic Sisters of Mercy of the Americas pvetrano@mercymidatlantic.org 

Abp. Chaput, Archbishop of Philadelphia shepherd@chs-adphila.org  

Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Muller, Perfect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith cdf@cfaith.va