Nun/Episcopal priest loses theology post

Christian Century, Feb 21, 2001

A Catholic sister who was ordained as an Episcopal priest and then fired from her teaching job at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh has been reassigned to the school's public policy center to teach ethics.

Moni McIntyre was told by university officials that her status as a priest put her at odds with official church teaching. "She is now a publicly proclaimed, official teacher of Anglican doctrine, which differs from Roman Catholic in very important areas," Duquesne President John E. Murray Jr. told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

According to the newspaper, McIntyre did not tell her department of her ordination in December, and university officials learned of it while looking at the Web site for the local Episcopal diocese. She returned from Christmas break to find her classes assigned to other professors and her books removed from a display case in the theology department.

The university president said he consulted Pittsburgh Bishop Donald Wuerl before firing McIntyre. The nation's Catholic bishops are tightening control over Catholic education, requiring professors of theology to receive permission, or a "mandatum," from the local bishop, under orders from the Vatican. Wuerl was on the committee that shaped the new policies.

McIntyre's ousting prompted criticism from independent lay organizations, including the Association for Rights of Catholics in the Church. But an agreement was reached to keep her on the faculty. Murray praised McIntyre as "a gifted teacher" in a statement issued February 1 by Duquesne. Murray also said he was "pleased" and "relieved" that she will remain at the university. McIntyre will teach ethics, including issues in health care and ecology. --RNS