Enrollment of Gays’ Sons Prompts a Plea to Bishop

A group of Orange County parishioners and parents angered that a gay couple have been allowed to enroll their two boys in a Roman Catholic diocese school have appealed to Bishop Tod D. Brown, requesting that he clarify the diocese’s stance on homosexuality and domestic partnership.

In a letter sent Thursday, Michael J. Sundstedt, a lawyer representing the group, requested that Brown disseminate to the Costa Mesa parish recent writings by Pope John Paul II in which the pontiff condemns domestic partnership and adoption by same-sex couples.

“This parish has virtually no idea what the church’s teachings are on these issues,” Sundstedt said in an interview.

The attorney said many local Catholics who believe in strict adherence to Vatican teachings had been distrustful of Brown since he sent a memo in 2000 to his priests. In it he endorsed the writings of a Catholic theologian who said there was no moral problem with civil law recognizing same-sex unions if they were not equated with marriage.

Brown could not be reached for comment, but Auxiliary Bishop Jaime Soto dismissed the idea that the diocese needed to clarify its position on same-sex marriages.

“Asking for clarifications assumes that we have not been clear in the past,” he said. “I think we’ve been very clear.”

The letter stems from a dispute at St. John the Baptist School, where the boys attend kindergarten. Eighteen people signed a letter last month demanding that the school accept only families that sign a pledge to live by Catholic doctrine.

School and church officials rejected the demand, saying the children had been baptized and were entitled to a Catholic education regardless of their parents’ sexual orientation.

Sundstedt declined to comment on what steps the parents and parishioners would take next if Brown did not offer an adequate response. In earlier conversations, Sundstedt said the group would ask Vatican authorities to intervene.