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The expansion, put in the state constitution by voters last November, had been a priority of the Missouri Catholic Conference. Bishops urged voters to support the measure, which was supposed to provide much needed health care for poor people.

“The Missouri Catholic Conference, in an effort to uphold the dignity of the human person in accord with Catholic social teaching, is lending its support to Amendment 2,� .

The director of advocacy for Catholic Charities wrote Sen. Paul Wieland, a Republican from Jefferson County who is a devout Catholic, and asked him if parishioners from the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ region could meet with him.

He said no.

“As a serious Catholic,� Wieland emailed Tamara Kenny, the director of advocacy and community engagement for , “I made a conscious decision not to meet with people or organizations that deliberately work against my Catholic beliefs.�

Wieland, who later in the session would vote against Medicaid expansion as well as hold up the entire Medicaid program’s funding mechanism, said in his email that he believes the expansion promotes abortion. “While I do appreciate much of what Catholic Charities does in our state, until such time as a new director, one that practices my faith is named to your position I am not interested in meeting with Catholic Charities either by person or by any electronic means.�

Three months later, shortly after the legislative session ended, Kenny found herself out of a job. She was fired by the archdiocese, she and others say, because she’s not Catholic. Kenny grew up Catholic, and she has been ingrained in the church her entire life, but she no longer attends Catholic Mass. Catholic Charities knew that when it hired her five years ago. A lawyer and social worker by training, Kenny believes in the social teaching of the Catholic church, and, according to Catholic parishioners who worked with her in advocacy, she was very good at her job.

“I felt like she was exceptionally good at her job,� says Kathy McGinnis, who worked with Kenny as a member of the Mission Integration and Advocacy Council. “There was so much information she was giving to us all the time. I thought that she had a very deep understanding of Catholic social teaching, which I think is core to what you do at Catholic Charities.�

Kenny said that after years of excellent performance reviews, she was fired on the spot on May 27 with no warning and escorted out of the building. Beyond that, she declined further comment.

Jim Moore, a parishioner at Incarnate Word Catholic Church in Chesterfield, said he attended several presentations Kenny gave to various churches to provide information about pieces of legislation and to advocate for Catholic positions that serve the clients of Catholic Charities.

“She was totally in conformity of Catholic teaching and the bishops of Missouri. I’m puzzled by why she isn’t considered a good steward of the message,� Moore said. “She was inspiring. She helped us mobilize parishioners to talk to lawmakers about the positions of the bishops.�

Wieland declined to discuss his email. “That’s an internal matter between me and Catholic Charities,â€� he said. And Peter Frangie, spokesman for the Archdiocese of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½, said he couldn’t discuss the Kenny situation because it’s a personnel matter.

For some Catholics in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½, the firing reminds them of when Marie Kenyon, director of the archdiocese’s Peace and Justice Commission, was suspended by new Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski late last year. She had organized a series of interfaith webinars on immigration policy, and some conservative Catholics complained. Kenyon was later reinstated.

“What does this signal in terms of where we’re headed?� Moore asks. “It would be very disconcerting to me if we are abandoning the principles of the church. Catholic social teaching isn’t Republican or Democrat. It’s profoundly human.�

Kenny’s firing has spurred a letter-writing campaign to the archbishop seeking her reinstatement.

“Very simply, my question is this,â€� wrote Kathy Sammons, who attends St. Clare of Assisi, in west ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County, “are we here as Catholic Christians to do Jesus’s work to help the less fortunate, or are we here to serve the political positions of members of our Church?â€�