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Kathy Itzin Denied Award by Archdiocese
- An Open Letter to All Members of the St. Joan of Arc Parish
from the SJA Pastoral Council

Dear Fellow Members of the St. Joan of Arc Spiritual Community,

We are not living in a perfect world and this week as council members we have once again been faced with the actions of the Archbishop that affect all of us. At this time we wish to share with you the facts as they have been unfolding regarding the rescinding of the award originally presented to Kathy Itzin, our Director of Religious Education.

The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the St. Paul/Minneapolis Archdiocese carried as their lead article an announcement about eighteen Religious education teachers and leaders who were to be honored by Archbishop Harry Flynn on May 21st. Kathy Itzin, our Religious Education director and fourteen-year employee, was to receive one of the awards.

On May 20th, two days prior to the award event, Kathy received word from Sharon Horgan of the Archdiocesan Office of Education that the award was being withdrawn and she was disinvited from the award’s banquet. The reason given was that Kathy, a lesbian, is involved in a committed relationship. Kathy was told by Sharon Horgan that it was not her personally, or her recognized outstanding work, but the Archbishop had decided to withdraw the award.

The following is the letter Colleen Perfect, President of Catholic Parents Online wrote to the Archbishop that precipitated this action.

Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
226 Summit Avenue
Saint Paul, MN 55102
(651) 291-4400
Email address: communications@archspm.org
Another email address: dawsonb@archspm.org

May 18, 2003

Dear Archbishop Flynn,

Just today, CPO has been informed of some alarming news. We tell you this before you unknowingly become part of a serious scandal which is scheduled to take place in 3 days!

In the most recent issue of the "Catholic Spirit", an article entitled, "Excellent Religious Educators Honored", reports that this Wednesday, May 21st, you will be presenting awards to 12 parish or school catechists and six parish or school catechetical leaders. See: www.thecatholicspirit.com/archives.php?article=1209.

Archbishop Flynn, one of the awards is set to go to Kathy Itzin, a religious education teacher from St. Joan of Arc parish, who has publicly described her experience of raising children with her same-sex partner as "very rewarding and fulfilling" - (see "CPCSM" link below).

Kathy Itzin is well known for her work with "Rainbow Families, which is one of the largest regional lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender parent organizations in the country" - see: www.rainbowfamilies.org/what.htm.

She is also a former Board member of the "Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities". Ms. Itzin and her "partner" are highlighted on the "CPCSM” website as panelists at a Speakers' Series Event on "GLBT" Parents. Included in the "CPCSM" story is the following:
"Eleven years ago, they adopted Annie, an African-American child from Texas, when she was only five days old. Wanting to provide Annie with a dark-complexioned sibling and always having wanted a biological child of their own, they next decided that Kathy would bear a child and carefully chose a Black male donor from Panama..." for the complete story see: www.mtn.org.

Archbishop Flynn, as our shepherd we pray that God will give you the wisdom and courage to stop this scandal - we ask that He hold you up with His grace as you proclaim the Truth... in season and out of season!

Sincerely in His love,
Colleen Perfect, President
Catholic Parents Online
As members of the St. Joan of Arc Pastoral Council, our first action was to make sure that this most recent event and all the facts available to us were to be shared with all of you. The second decision we have reached at this point is to insure Kathy Itzin that she will receive an award of appreciation for her work with our children from this Pastoral Council.

We wish to leave to your judgment several other facts related to this situation. Catholic Parents Online has listed on their website, parishes that welcome gays and lesbians and their families. These other parishes are: Assumption Parish - Basilica of St. Mary - Church of St. Albert the Great - Church of St. Frances Cabrini - Church of St. Joan of Arc - Church of St. Matthew - Church of St. Philip - Church of St. Stanislaus - Church of St. Stephen - Guardian Angels Church - Transfiguration Parish - St. Edward’s, Bloomington.

At this point in time the members of the Pastoral Council wish to share with their brothers and sisters of this community our pride and honor for being a spiritual community that welcomes everyone. We are very willing to suffer the consequence of following the Gospel. Catholic Parents Online and the repeated actions of Archbishop Flynn are helping us to truly define who we are as a community , and we are thankful for this. We ask each of you as members to support Kathy Itzin and her family. We also ask you give strength to each other. If you do choose to communicate with the Archdiocese, we ask that you respect our request for non-violent statements. As members of the Pastoral Council we are committed to actions that embrace our values of peace and justice.

We will keep you informed.

Chuck MacDonald
On Behalf of the St. Joan of Arc Pastoral Council

View the StarTribune story on the issue.

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