A Roman Catholic nun quit her teaching job rather than comply with what she called an "insulting" demand for a letter declaring her a practicing Catholic.Sister Regina Werntz sent a letter to The Citizens Voice of Wilkes-Barre on Friday explaining her decision to stop teaching in the Diocese of Scranton.
"Most of the ten sisters at Bishop Hoban ... viewed this as personally demeaning and also insulting to our religious congregations," Werntz wrote.
Werntz has taught the past nine years at Bishop Hoban High School, but was being reassigned as part of a diocesan-wide school consolidation. She had the seniority and credentials to move to another school, but refused to ask for the letter, she said.
"There was one last requirement I could not bring myself to do: ask my pastor to furnish a letter to prove that I am a practicing Catholic," Werntz wrote.
She declined further comment, saying the letter speaks for itself.
The Scranton diocese is laying off about 100 teachers as it closes several elementary and high schools in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties due in part to declining enrollment.
The diocese is basing its retention decisions on teacher qualifications, seniority and proof of good standing in the church in the form of the letters from pastors.
Some Catholics decried the nuns' treatment as insensitive.
"I think it is very offensive to ask these good sisters, who have been working and teaching and committing their lives to the church to prove they are Catholics in good standing with a letter from their pastor," said Tom O'Connor, a parent in the diocese.
A diocese spokesman said nuns were guaranteed teaching positions after the consolidation if they applied.
"There were many other sisters who apparently had no problem with the letter and submitted it without any problems," spokesman Dan Gallagher said.
Werntz questioned whether a fear of lawsuits from lay teachers factored into the demand to require the letters, but Gallagher denied that legal concerns were involved.
Werntz plans to teach at an all-girls school in New Jersey this fall.
In her letter, she said she hopes to set an example for her students "to question or protest injustice."
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