PITTSBURGH – A federal appeals court stood by its decision to refuse to hear the claim of a former Catholic university chaplain that she was forced out for helping expose allegations of priest misconduct.
A three-judge panel of the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia had ruled last month that the “ministerial exception” barred it from considering claims by former nun Lynette Petruska against Gannon University, a private school in Erie.
Courts often cite the ministerial exception to dismiss lawsuits between religious institutions and clergy, arguing the need to protect the rights of denominations to govern their affairs according to their beliefs.
Petruska said Wednesday she plans to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear an appeal.
Petruska, the first woman chaplain at Gannon, claimed in her lawsuit that she was demoted in 2002 and forced to resign because of her gender, and because she helped expose accusations of a cover-up involving a priest who took a leave of absence after an alleged affair with a woman.
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