Chestnut Hill College President Releases Statement Saying It Fired Father St. George Because He Is Gay But That College Did Not Know His Sexual Orientation When He Was Hired A Year Ago

An update on a previous post, late Friday night, Chestnut Hill College President Carol Jean Vale released a statement explaining the college’s decision to fire Father Jim St. George, reports the Chestnut Hill Local. The openly gay priest who has taught theology courses at the school since January 2010 learned he was fired late last week. In her statement, Vale confirms that the St. George’s sexual orientation was the reason he was terminated, saying it was incompatible with the college’s Roman Catholic principles. She also states that the decision to fire St. George was not the result of pressure from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia or a letter from attorney James Pepper, but rather revelatory statements made by St. George on his personal blog, saying “It was with great disappointment when we learned through St. George’s public statements of his involvement in a gay relationship with another man for the past 15 years. It is important to note that this information came to our attention only after St. George chose to make his private life public information on his blog.” According to Vale, the college did not know when it hired St. George anything about his sexual orientation or that he belonged to St. Miriam Church in Blue Bell, a church affiliated with the Old Catholic Apostolic Church of America, which allows its priests to be gay, straight, celibate or married. She concludes the terse statement saying “While we welcome diversity, it is expected that all members of our College community, regardless of their personal beliefs, respect and uphold our Roman Catholic mission, character and values both in the classroom and in public statements that identify them with our school. For this reason, we chose not to offer an additional teaching contract to St. George.”