As we noted in December, an unmarried Catholic school teacher in Pennsylvania was fired for getting pregnant. She decided to keep the baby instead of getting an abortion — and that visible sign of her “sin” was a fireable offense.

Catholic schools usually have the right to fire employees who don’t adhere to Vatican dogma, no matter how irrational the decision is, but‘s case was somewhat unusual (at least according to her lawyer) because she wasn’t in a ministerial position. Reich taught English, and her lawyer says that means she’s not bound to the “no sinning” rule and deserves monetary damages. The Church insists all staffers have to play by their rules.

What’s interesting now is a statement school officials made to a judge. They said Reich could keep her job… as long as she got married immediately. As if forcing married with your job on the line is truly what’s best for everyone.

An unwed, pregnant teacher likely would not had been fired from a Catholic school if she would have agreed to get married, officials of the Harrisburg Diocese say. Sister Mary Anne Bednar, principal of Our Lady of Lourdes Regional School near Shamokin, made that point Friday during a Northumberland County court hearing. So did the Rev. Edward James Quinlan, the secretary of education for the diocese. “We always try to work with employees,” he said.

Leave it to the Catholic Church to take a non-existent problem and make it even worse. The irony in all of this is that Reich could’ve had an abortion, quietly, early in the pregnancy and the school never would’ve known about it. But she went through with the pregnancy, lost her job, and was told she could only have it back if she entered into a marriage she wasn’t ready for.

The Catholic Church prioritizes all the wrong principles.

(Screenshot via WNEP. Thanks to Matt for the link. Portions of this article were published earlier)