Although the Catholic Diocese of Lansing had every legal right to close the curtain on the Lansing Civic Players, its decision to do so was immoral.

Censorship by any institution - public or private - is an injustice.

On Dec. 21, just weeks prior to opening night, the diocese prematurely pulled the plug on the players’ rendition of “Breaking the Code,” which was set to be performed on the Lansing Catholic Central High School auditorium stage.

The play tells the story of 1940s British mathematician Alan Turing, whose work helped crack coded messages sent to and from German U-boats, aiding in the culmination of an Allied victory over Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime.

After helping preserve democracy, Turing was then tried and convicted of practicing homosexuality. He committed suicide at 42.

It’s unsettling that a play designed to promote and educate people about tolerance and understanding is being met with the same ignorance and repulsion that Turing had to deal with nearly 60 years ago.

The play’s director, Todd Heywood, said the church was notified of the story’s content in April, and assumed there were no objections to the production being performed in the school.

The Lansing Civic Players have performed in the school’s auditorium for more than a dozen years.

Church officials say they knew nothing of the play’s content and only were notified of schedule dates. Michael Diebold, the diocese spokesman, said it was business as usual.

Diebold said the church made its decision to bag the play after learning the Lansing Civic Players sold dress rehearsal tickets to the Michigan Triangle Foundation, a gay-activist group.

He said church leaders found the play’s subject to be inappropriate and felt the Triangle Foundation’s involvement would be an “embarrassment” to the church.

In this case, the church embarrassed itself.

It is sad to see the Catholic Church, which has been struggling to overcome its stereotypes, take a giant leap backward with a hypocritical decision like this.

While the church views homosexuality as a sin, the teachings religions such as Christianity promote love and tolerance of fellow humans.

The church should have taken this opportunity to teach love and acceptance of those who are different from the societal norm, which is more moral than judging and persecuting them.

We urge anyone who is able to help the Lansing Civic Players find a stage for their performance of “Breaking the Code” to come forward. There is an important message within the script that needs to be heard.

And we suggest the players take their business elsewhere in the future.

If the church worried that people would equate this play with its support for homosexuality, the problem could have been prevented with a simple disclaimer on the program’s bill or something of that nature. Instead, it censored.

This is an unfortunate situation. What is even more unfortunate is this should never have become a situation in the first place.