Defeated trustee asked for proof of baptism
Outspoken mother fears her children may be targets at Catholic school
A Catholic school trustee candidate who lost in last week’s civic election is questioning why the school her children have attended for six years asked to see her baptismal certificate.
Mom-of-three Kristin Heimbecker said Monday she’s worried her children have become targets after she publicly questioned the Catholic Church during the election campaign.
She was outspoken about her support for LGBTQ students, and said the needs of students superseded direction from the archdiocese.
“It’s heartbreaking to think that maybe your children are going to be subject to other forms of discrimination,” Heimbecker said.
On Oct. 17, the day after the election, an information form that had been going back and forth to her children’s school came home with a handwritten note asking for a copy of a certificate showing she had been baptized, Heimbecker said.
Her impression is that the school was questioning the eligibility of her children to attend a Catholic school, she said.
The Edmonton Catholic school board chairwoman — and Heimbecker’s opponent — Laura Thibert, said Monday the proof-of-religion request was a mistake and has apologized to Heimbecker.
“This error has absolutely nothing to do with the recent election and is extremely unfortunate,” Thibert said in a written statement.
In the six years Heimbecker’s children, ages 10, seven and five, have attended École Frere Antoine in Mill Woods, no staff member has asked to see any baptismal certificates, she said. Each year, on the children’s registration forms, she indicates, via check box, that her children are not baptized, she said.
Although she and her husband were baptized Catholic, they want to let their children decide for themselves, she said. Both parents were educated in Catholic schools, and want that option for their children, as well.
Heimbecker wanted to be a voice on the school board for progressive families not heavily involved with the church, she said of her run in southeast Edmonton’s Ward 77.
She refused to turn over her baptismal record to the school, saying they should take her at her word. With the request coming six weeks into the school year, she finds the timing of the personal note suspicious.
It raised a red flag because an Archdiocese of Edmonton employee wrote posts on the Summerside Community League’s Facebook page during the campaign telling his neighbours Heimbecker isn’t Catholic. The league has since deleted the comments. An Edmonton priest also questioned her faith on her campaign’s Facebook page.
“I don’t think the Catholic school wants people in the school that can’t prove that they’re Catholic; I think that’s extremely wrong,” she said.
One-quarter of the students enrolled at Edmonton Catholic Schools identified as non-Catholic upon enrolment.
As part of the school’s annual review of kindergarten records, the staff erroneously sent an outdated form home to some parents, Thibert stated.
Baptismal certificates should only be discussed as part of a child’s sacramental preparation, she said.
Edmonton’s Catholic archdiocese has no involvement with collection by schools of baptism data, spokeswoman Lorraine Turchansky said Monday. The diocese and individual parishes do keep records parents can access, she said.
Turchansky said the archdiocese has reviewed its social media policy, given that some people may have thought an employee was speaking for the church during the election. The archdiocese does not endorse any candidates, and wants to avoid the impression it does, she said.