In Brief

New Jersey court rules Catholic school can require teachers to follow Catholic teaching

TRENTON — The New Jersey Supreme Court on Aug. 14 unanimously upheld a Catholic school’s ability to enforce an employee code of conduct in line with Catholic moral teaching and to fire teachers for violating that code. The ruling in Victoria Crisitello v. St. Theresa School further solidifies the ability of New Jersey religious schools of all types to enforce moral codes of conduct in line with their religious practice. “This ruling provides Catholic schools with a significant new protection against lawsuits brought by employees who do not follow a school’s code of conduct,” said Eric Rassbach, an attorney with Becket, a law firm specializing in religious freedom cases. “As the New Jersey Supreme Court recognized, religious schools have a right to require their teachers to follow their faith in word and in deed. Although the ruling centers on New Jersey law, it will have knock-on effects around the country as a persuasively written decision.” The case revolved around Victoria Crisitello, a former art teacher at St. Theresa Catholic School in Kenilworth, N.J. Crisitello was terminated because she violated not renew Crisitello’s contract in 2014 after she revealed she was pregnant, despite not being married. Crisitello sued the school for discrimination based on her pregnancy and marital status. St. Theresa’s responded, stating that “Crisitello was not terminated because of her pregnancy” but rather “she was terminated for violation of the Code of Professional and Ministerial Conduct” and for “not following the tenets of the Roman Catholic faith.” The state Supreme Court ultimately ruled in favor of St. Theresa’s and New Jersey religious schools in its unanimous decision Aug. 14. In its ruling, the New Jersey Supreme Court stated “the religious tenets exception allowed St. Theresa’s to require its employees, as a condition of employment, to abide by Catholic law, including that they abstain from premarital sex.” Peter Verniero, counsel for St. Theresa School, stated: “We are pleased that the Supreme Court upheld the rights of religious employers to act consistent with their religious tenets.”

St. Augustine, Fla., new statue unites cultures and launches Camino de la Unidad pilgrimage

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — The newly unveiled sculpture of the Apostle Santiago at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine in the heart of downtown St. Augustine is a tangible link to its counterpart at the entrance of Santiago Cathedral in Spain. Placement of the statue took place on the feast of St. James (Santiago), July 25, during an event marking the convergence of spiritual connections between cultures and continents. It included the opening ceremony of Camino de la Unidad, a network of pilgrimage cathedral basilica a few blocks away. The statue, crafted by the skilled hands of Juan Vega, is fashioned after one found at Spain’s Santiago Cathedral. It returned with a local Florida delegation that visited Spain in 2022 to solidify St. Augustine’s connection to the Camino de Santiago de Compostela (the Way of St. James) and will be placed permanently in the west courtyard of the cathedral basilica. The Florida group went to Spain to solidify their membership in the Alliance of Cathedrals and strengthen the city’s connection to the Camino de Santiago de Compostela. Father John Tetlow, rector of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine, officially signed the proclamation joining the Alliance of Cathedrals. The cathedral basilica now officially becomes the anchor for the new Camino de la Unidad.

Sister Josephine Garrett shares

‘hope stories’ of Black Catholics in podcast meant to inspire

HUNTINGTON, Ind. — A podcast production by Catholic publishing company OSV with a nationally-recognized religious sister is featuring “Hope Stories with Black Catholics” this summer. “A hope story is a time in someone’s life when he or she was called to hope in a deep way,” Sister Josephine Garrett, a member of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, said of the ongoing series. “Hope (especially hope that is deep and profound and connected to the deepest desires of our hearts) takes courage, and as we wait for what is longed for, we can experience grief, loss, joy, fear, expectancy -all sorts of feelings.” She added that “in each episode the guests share times in their life episodes lasting around 30 minutes each while highlighting the stories of 17 U.S. Black Catholics from all walks of life. One guest, Father Robert

Boxie, chaplain at Howard University and priestin-residence at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Washington, said he “absolutely enjoyed” being a part of the podcast, and his prayer is “that listeners will be inspired by the stories of Black Catholics, appreciate the unique witness that we bring to the Catholic Church.”

Catholics mark 78th anniversary of atomic bombings with calls for nuclear disarmament

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Catholics marked the 78th anniversary of the United States’ 1945 atomic bombings in Japan with calls for nuclear disarmament, prayers for peace and a protest at the White House. The Dorothy Day Catholic Worker House gathered about three dozen protesters for a vigil outside the White House Aug. 9 to mark the occasion with prayer, and to call on the U.S., the only nation that has used such weapons in war, to lead the way to a world where they are never again used. The group held a similar effort outside the Pentagon Aug. 6. During World War II, the U.S. used nuclear weapons on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima Aug. 6, 1945, and Nagasaki Aug. 9, 1945. Those bombings marked the first – and to date, only – use of atomic weapons in war, killing tens of thousands of people in each city in the initial explosions with still more dying from radiation poisoning in the following years. “We have to begin the process of dismantling the production of any new ones,” Catholic Worker Art Laffin said, saying President Joe Biden should heed the teaching of Pope Francis and embrace the United Nations’ treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons. Pope Francis has taught that “the use of nuclear weapons, as well as their mere possession, is immoral.” No nation with nuclear weapons has signed the U.N. treaty.

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