Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/19pdf/19-267_1an2.pdf
Page Number: 35.0

4 

OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE SCHOOL v.
MORRISSEY-BERRU 
THOMAS, J., concurring 

in on the theological questions of which positions qualify as
“ministerial.” 

As this Court has explained, the Religion Clauses do not
permit  governmental  “interfere[nce]  with  . . .  a  religious
group’s right to shape its own faith and mission through its
appointments.”  Hosanna-Tabor,  supra,  at  188.  To  avoid 
such  interference,  we  should  defer  to  these  groups’  good-
faith understandings of which individuals are charged with 
carrying out the organizations’ religious missions.

Here,  the  record  confirms  the  sincerity  of  petitioners’ 
claims that, as lay teachers, Morrissey-Berru and Biel held
ministerial roles in these parish schools.  For example, the
Our Lady of Guadalupe Faculty Handbook states that lay 
teachers serve “special pastoral administrative roles . . . in 
the service of the people of God.”  App. to Pet. for Cert. in
No. 19–267, p. 52a (emphasis added).  Moreover, their “es-
sential job duties” include “[m]odeling, teaching of and com-
mitment to Catholic religious and moral values.” Id., at 55a 
(boldface  deleted);  see  also  id.,  at  32a  (Morrissey-Berru’s
teaching  contract);  App.  to  Pet.  for  Cert.  in  No.  19–348, 
  And  both  Morrissey-
p. 96a  (Biel’s  teaching  contract).
Berru’s  and  Biel’s  teaching  contracts  required  that  their 
“duties and responsibilities . . . be performed [with an] over-
riding commitment” to “develop[ing] . . . a Catholic School 
Faith Community” in accordance with “the doctrines, laws
and norms of the Catholic Church.”  Ibid.; App. to Pet. for 
Cert. in No. 19–267, at 32a.  Finally, amicus curiae United 
States  Conference  of  Catholic  Bishops  confirms  that  peti-
tioners’ understanding is consistent with the Church’s view
that “Catholic teachers play a critical role” in the Church’s
ministry.  Brief  for  United  States  Conference  of  Catholic 
Bishops 10–11; see also Catechism of the Catholic Church 
8  (2d  ed.  2016)  (noting  that  the  goal  of  “education  in  the 
faith of children [is] to initiat[e] the hearers into the full-
ness of Christian life” (emphasis deleted; internal quotation
marks omitted)).