Thursday, October 01, 2009

Nun 'obliged' to follow her conscience

SISTER MARIA O’Sullivan told the tribunal she was also “obliged to follow her own conscience and in this case, it too objected to the provincial leader’s decision”.

Sr Maria accepted that the provincial leader had a right to ask her to take “a period of rest” and that she had a right to refuse.

“A vow of obedience did not mean she had to follow the religious order’s instructions in all circumstances.” She felt “duty bound both in conscience and in action to oppose the ‘injustice done to her’,” the determination says.

Sr Maria told her superior she was not giving up her job and decided to attend school in her teaching capacity.

When she went into the school the day before it was due to open, she was “shocked” to find the tables and chairs had been removed from the classroom she had used and she later received a letter from the board which amounted to a termination of her employment.

A priest who worked in the office of the patron of the school, the Bishop of Cork and Ross, said the bishop had no authority to interfere with how the religious order was run.

“It was his understanding that religious personnel who were appointed to schools operated under a vow of obedience to their congregation. That vow, however, came under canon law jurisdiction.

“In giving his interpretation of the rules governing religious staff at schools, the priest commented that such teachers were treated differently from other staff,” the determination says.
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