Indianapolis Archdiocese seeks to protect Catholic education

Court to decide if Archdiocese of Indianapolis can choose teachers who uphold Catholic teaching.

WASHINGTON – The Archdiocese of Indianapolis will be in court next Tuesday defending its right to provide students and families with an authentic Catholic education. In Payne-Elliott v. Archdiocese of Indianapolis, a former teacher at a Catholic high school has sued the Archdiocese, claiming that it is illegal for the Archdiocese to require Catholic schools to hire teachers who will uphold the Catholic faith in word and deed.

In 2017, Joshua Payne-Elliott, a teacher at Cathedral Catholic High School in Indianapolis, violated his employment agreement and centuries of Church teaching by entering a same-sex marriage. After two years of discussion and deliberation, the Archdiocese informed Cathedral that if it wanted to remain affiliated with the Catholic Church, it could not continue employing teachers who lived in defiance of Church teaching. When Cathedral separated from Mr. Payne-Elliott, he sued the Archdiocese, seeking money damages and arguing that its religious directive to Cathedral was unlawful.

Becket is defending the Archdiocese, pointing out that the government cannot punish the Archdiocese for telling a Catholic school what rules it needs to follow in order to remain a Catholic school.