Music teacher Lisa Reimer was in the news Thursday after she accused Vancouver's Little Flower Academy, a private Catholic school, of firing her because she is a lesbian.

According to Reimer, she was about to return to work after taking three weeks leave to be with her partner, who gave birth to their child, when the school told her to stay away and mark papers from home until her one-year temporary contract expires in June.

Reimer claims school administrators told her the move was provoked by complaints from parents who objected to having their children taught by a homosexual. Guess they worried their kids might catch gay from being around Reimer.

In any case, Reimer said she never discussed her sexual orientation with her students or her fellow teachers although school administrators were aware of it.

She also said she adhered to the terms of her contract with the school as a non-Catholic teacher, which forbade criticism of the Catholic faith or introducing non-Catholic values to her students.

The school denies firing Reimer, but Little Flower's board chair promised to look into Reimer's allegation that she was told to avoid direct contact with her students. Education Minister Margaret MacDiarmid has also asked ministry staff to investigate.

Once again, the Catholic church demonstrates its truly astounding capacity for hypocrisy. Here we have an institution that has for decades protected pedophile priests, all the while preaching morality to millions around the world.

The most infamous Canadian example is the sexual abuse suffered by children at Newfoundland's Mt. Cashel orphanage.

(A note here: in an earlier column attacking the church's hypocritical attitudes, I said priests were responsible for the Mt. Cashel predations. A local defender of the church was kind enough to correct me in my ignorance by informing me that it was lay brothers who preyed on the kiddies there, not priests. Good to know.)

The church paid $85 million to other victims in Boston and cases have been proved or admitted to in many more countries, including Britain, France, Australia, Mexico and the Philippines.

Time and again, church officials transferred offending priests to new parishes - without reporting them to the secular authority - after accusations of sexual abuse were lodged against them.

Back in 2003, Archbishop of Vancouver Adam Exner ordered four Catholic schools to opt out of VanCity Credit Union's junior banking program because of its pro-gay sponsorships and an advertising campaign designed to attract business from the region's gay residents.

Exner accused VanCity of promoting "agendas which are worrisome and harmful to the church and society."

Now, if Ms. Reimer is to be believed, we have another example of the church, through one of its private schools, trying to present itself as a morally superior body in a position to condemn others. Wow.

And just for the record, I don't have a beef with the Roman church in particular. Others have much to answer for as well, but the Catholic church seems particularly adept at maintaining a "do as I say, not as I do" attitude without so much as blushing.

Wasn't it Jesus who said something along the lines of, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone?"

Ted Colley is a reporter/photographer with the Now newspaper. He can be reached by email

at tcolley@thenownewspaper.com