MIAMI (AP) – Thousands of employees in Miami’s Catholic Archdiocese got a memo from Archbishop Thomas Wenski after judges in Florida lifted the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.
The Miami Herald reports the note sent Jan. 6 quoted from the employee handbook and included a statement from the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops reiterating opposition to same-sex marriage.
Gay rights and civil-rights groups across the country questioned the archbishop’s memo. Some wondered if it put church workers in the position of wondering whether they were risking their jobs to attend same-sex wedding celebrations.
The Miami archdiocese has 8,300 employees in Monroe, Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
Wenski told the newspaper the policy applies to all employees because they agree not to “engage in actions that otherwise contradict the mission” of the church.
