The Ministry of Education of the Government of the Canary Islands has decided not to grant the request of the Bishopric of the Canary Islands and has kept the religion teacher Luis Alberto González in his position, who returned to his position at the IES Las Salinas in Arrecife this Monday.
Last August, the teacher himself made public in the El País newspaper that the Church had expelled him as a religion teacher, after marrying another man. "For reasons of doctrine and morality and under the protection of canon law, suitability as a Religion teacher is withdrawn", said the letter he received from the Bishopric.
However, although the Bishopric has also addressed the Ministry of Education, it has not granted its request. "For a teacher to stop teaching, it has to be justified, it has to be in accordance with the law, and the Bishopric has not justified it", explained the Deputy Minister of Education of the Canary Islands Government, Manuela Armas.
"The fact that he is homosexual does not justify his dismissal and the Ministry is not going to remove him", Armas insisted. And it is that although it is the Church that proposes religion teachers, Armas maintains that in order to later withdraw their "suitability", as it intends to do in this case, it must justify it. "You cannot take away anyone's suitability and that decision has to be in accordance with the law and the Constitution."
For this reason, she has confirmed that Luis Alberto González "will continue working" and that the Canary Islands Government "will continue hiring him", at least until the Bishopric provides "a compelling reason" to stop doing so.
