Washington D.C., Feb 10, 2021 / 04:00 am MT ( CNA ).- Attorneys for the Archdiocese of Chicago argued before the Seventh Circuit on Tuesday that parishes should be free to choose church leaders without government interference. In the case of Demkovich v. St. Andrew the Apostle Parish , the former music director at St. Andrew’s sued the Archdiocese of Chicago for discrimination after his employment was terminated in 2014. The staffer, Sandor Demkovich, had entered into a same-sex marriage, which violates Church teaching. Becket, a religious liberty law firm, is representing the archdiocese in court. “He who sings, prays twice—so whoever leads the singing is central to church worship,” Daniel Blomberg, senior counsel at Becket, said in a statement on Tuesday. “Allowing the government to entangle itself in the relationship between a church and its ministers runs headlong into the wall between church and state,” he said. Demkovoch initially filed an employment discrimination lawsuit, which was rejected by a district court in 2017. Then he sued again, claiming that he was the victim of a hostile work environment, according to court documents . Demokovich alleged that he was targeted for harassment because of his sexual orientation and medical […]
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