Bishop of Sion sends teacher into the desert (Swiss Press Online 2014, by Kurt Marti) - Swiss Press Award

Www.infosperber.ch

Kurt Marti

Edith Inderkummen, a Catholic religion and ethics teacher, taught denominational religion and non-denominational ethics classes at the Brig Orientation School. After she left the Catholic Church in the spring of 2013 to return to her Jewish roots, she was summarily dismissed as a religion teacher by the Valais Department of Education at the request of the Bishop of Sion in early June 2013, based on the outdated, pre-Vatican Education Act of 1962. Although the dismissal did not affect non-denominational religious education, this teaching position was discontinued in the fall of 2013. The ethics teacher was neither informed of this nor received a legally valid notice of termination. Although the Bishop of Sion has no authority in this regard, he demanded in writing from the education authorities that a teacher for the non-denominational ERG (Ethics, Religion, Community) class also belong to one of the two Christian denominations. The publication on Infosperber sparked a heated public controversy across all local media outlets. 20 minutes reported on it nationally online and in print. The teacher filed a complaint, and Education Director Oskar Freysinger announced an internal investigation. Both proceedings are still pending. When Freysinger publicly criticized the Brig school authorities, they initially remained silent. A week later, the mayor of Brig, the relevant city councilor, the school principal, and the municipal clerk responded with a press conference. A highly unusual reaction by Valais standards.