Candidate Questionnaire

Catholic School Board Trustee Candidate Questionnaire

Trustee Candidate Questionnaire

1. Do you adhere to the teachings of the Magisterium on the nature of the Church, the sacraments, life issues, morality, marriage and family and our relationship to other Christian churches and other religions? Do you expect these teachings to be followed in Catholic schools? Will you defend these even if Ministry of Education policies seem to oppose them?

2. Do you support the use of the Catechism of the Catholic Church as a primary resource for religious education classes?

3. Do you support maintaining, or reintroducing, traditional Catholic forms of prayer, pious practices and sacramentals (e.g. Rosary, Stations, Sacred Heart devotions, First Fridays and Saturdays, fasting, novenas, scapulars etc.)?

4. Do you encourage Catholic culture by promoting the study of Catholic history, philosophy, literature, the visual arts and music in the curriculum and by incorporating these where possible into the prayer and liturgical life of schools?

5. If elected, would you back the Ottawa Catholic School Board in its annual support of the National March for Life (NMFL) and, in particular, its commitment to having students from each of the 15 high schools attend the NMFL? As a trustee, would you be willing to participate in the NMFL and walk alongside students and teachers from your representative schools, thereby demonstrating your commitment to life issues?

6. If elected, would you support a motion that ensures schools have a greater visual presence of sacred images (i.e. statues/paintings of Jesus, the Holy Trinity, the Blessed Virgin, saints and/or angels)? If so, would you be willing to put forward such a motion?

7. If elected, would you support motions that nurture the virtue of modesty in our schools? One practical example would be to introduce dress codes where they don't exist or encourage better enforcement in schools where they do exist. If so, would you be willing to put forward such a motion?

8. The Ottawa Catholic School Board website contains presentations from the Equity and Inclusive Education Conference. One of the presentations (Chris D’Souza- Keynote Presentation, http://www.occdsb.on.ca/media.php?mid=52307) is of particular concern. Slide 51 of the presentation related to homophobia indicates that Heterosexism must be opposed, where heterosexism is defined as the assumption that everyone is or should be heterosexual and that heterosexuality is the only normal, natural sexual orientation. This call to fight against and eradicate heterosexism contradicts the Catholic Church’s teaching on homosexuality. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, homosexual inclinations are “objectively disordered.” The Church calls people with such tendencies to chastity. Homosexual acts, the Catechism states further, are “acts of grave depravity,” and “under no circumstances can they be approved” (2357-2359). If elected, would you support a motion that ensured all material on the Ottawa Catholic School Board’s website, including links, do not contradict or undermine Church teaching on faith and morals? In the case of this particular presentation, would you act to ensure its removal from the website and bar this particular speaker from any further presentations to the OCSB community as it has been demonstrated that part(s) of his equity and diversity message are in direct opposition to the teachings of the Catholic Church?

9. According to the Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education (1977), "Where difficulties and conflicts arise about the authentic Christian character of the Catholic school, hierarchical authority can and must intervene" (The Catholic School, Rome, ¶ 73). The Catholic philosophy of education maintains that the teacher be an example and model of Catholic integrity to their students and community. In cases where a teacher’s personal life (including their religious beliefs) is continuously lived out in a manner that are not in accord with the teachings of the Catholic Church, would you use your authority to enact corrective measures (including possible termination of employment)? Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• teachers living out a homosexual lifestyle
• teachers who are divorced and "remarried"(and whose first marriage has not been annulled by the Catholic Church)
• teachers who are currently living in common-law relationships

10. As Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver, Colorado recently stated, "The main purpose of Catholic schools is religious; in other words, to form students in Catholic faith, Catholic morality and Catholic social values” (Denver Catholic Register, March 10, 2010). Given this statement, would you support a motion calling for the revision of the family life, health and sex education programs so as to promote the virtue of chastity and bring these curricula in line with the Venerable John Paul II's teaching on marriage and human sexuality which is known as “Theology of the Body”?

11. The Ontario Ministry of Education has mandated every school board in the province to develop an Equity & Inclusive Education Policy. If elected, would you be willing to put forward a motion that would add the following written clauses to the Ottawa Catholic School Board's Equity & Inclusive Education Policy:

Whenever the topic of homosexuality (or the existence of homosexual family structures) is discussed, the teacher must clearly present sections 2357 and 2358 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church in their entirety. Under no circumstances will section 2357 be presented as if it contradicts or supercedes section 2358.

Under no circumstances will external organizations which promote messages or defend lifestyles that contradict the Church's teaching about homosexuality, be invited to give presentations, classroom lessons, or to serve as counseling referrals for Catholic students, teachers or principals. Gay/Straight Alliances and Gay Pride clubs (which are normally associated with an embracing of the gay lifestyle) are strictly forbidden.

Whenever a potential need for youth counselling in areas of sexual identity confusion or same-sex attraction, the parent must be notified before any referral is given by school staff. If the parent agrees to counselling, only resources totally faithful to Catholic teaching on homosexuality and marriage can be provided.

The sections of the Catechism of the Catholic Church mentioned above can be found below for your convenience.

2357 - Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered." They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.

2358 - The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.