Headship retracted over marital split

A?HEADMASTER newly appointed to a Catholic school had the job offer withdrawn when governors learned he had split up with his wife, writes James Macintyre.

Christopher Belli was given the post of headmaster at Corpus Christi High School in Cardiff, in February, only to have the offer revoked last month.

A church source said Mr Belli was not divorced but was “in the process” of a “separation” from his wife. Nonetheless, governors at school have retracted their offer, citing his “marital position” in a statement agreed with Mr Belli.

The chairwoman of governors, Kath Brown, said: “Due to the marital position of Mr Belli the school had decided it is not appropriate for him to assume the head-teacher post.”

The school, which educates 1,000 pupils aged seven to 11, was attacked by the National Secular Society, which claimed it made “a mockery of equality laws”.

The Archdiocese of Cardiff’s schools director, Anne Robertson, stressed that such a development was not unprecedented. “There have been issues before and things change in personal circumstances for all sorts of reasons.”

In a 2012 CTS booklet, Christ at the Centre: Why the Church Provides Catholic Schools, Mgr Marcus Stock, General Secretary of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, writes that the personal faith of the headteacher or principal should “reflect the moral and social teaching of the Catholic Church”.

Mr Belli is a teacher currently based in England, but he went to university in Cardiff and his family is from Pontypool near the Welsh capital.

His brother Marc, who is the headmaster of Mary Immaculate Catholic High School in Cardiff, said: “My brother and the school mutually agreed it was not in the best interests of the school to comment on this.”