Bishop Robert J. McManus informed College of the Holy Cross president Vincent D. Rougeau that he will not be attending the school’s commencement in May after the bishop demanded the Nativity School of Worcester stop flying Pride and Black Lives Matter flags, according to the Telegram & Gazette.
A spokesperson for the college confirmed McManus will not be in attendance at the school’s May 27 graduation ceremony, the paper reported.
An online petition calling for McManus to be disinvited from attending commencement was created and circulated by students, faculty and alumni following a statement the bishop made on April 3 in regards to the Nativity School flying the BLM and Pride flags.
McManus demanded the Nativity School remove the flags, the Boston Globe first reported, which he says are symbols that “stand in contrast to consistent Catholic teaching.”
In the statement, the 70-year-old Catholic bishop said the Black Lives Matter flag has at times “been coopted by some factions which also instill broad-brush distrust of police and those entrusted with enforcing our laws.”
Addressing the Pride flag, McManus said gay pride flags are often used to stand in contrast to consistent Catholic teaching that sacramental marriage is between a man and a woman.
“Is the school committing itself to ideologies which are contrary to Catholic teaching? If so, is it still a Catholic school?” McManus wrote. “As the Bishop of this diocese, I must teach that it is imperative that a Catholic School use imagery and symbols which are reflective of that school’s values and principles so as to be clear with young people who are being spiritually and morally formed for the future.”
In response, the petition said it would be inappropriate for McManus to attend the college’s graduation ceremony and asked for president Rogeau to disinvite him.
“Unfortunately, the Bishop’s statements demonstrate ignorant and bigoted sentiments which fail to align with these long-held values that guide our community,” the petition reads. “As a community that welcomes members of every gender, race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, we find it inappropriate to have Bishop McManus present at this year’s graduation ceremony for the Class of 2022, and thus request that he be disinvited from attendance.”
As of Saturday, April 9, the petition had received hundreds of signatures from students, faculty and alumni.
The Nativity School is a tuition-free all-boys school that serves about 60 predominantly students of color from low-income families. The school is part of a Jesuit network and although school President Thomas McKenney in a statement shared with MassLive said the school “proudly” operates in the Diocese of Worcester, he made the distinction that it is “not a Diocesan school.”
The Nativity School of Worcester is one of 64 Nativity Miguel Schools serving over 5,000 middle-school-aged boys and girls in 27 states in the United States.
According to the school’s website, the senior administration at Holy Cross developed the idea of establishing a Nativity School in Worcester in the late 1990s.
McKenney said in a statement the school began flying the Black Lives Matter and Pride flags early in 2021 “to remind our young men, their families and Nativity Worcester staff that all are welcome here and that they are valued and safe in this place. It says to them that they, in fact, do matter and deserve to be respected as our Christian values teach us.”
“That is the purpose of flying these flags,” he said.
In 2019, College of the Holy Cross officials rebuked remarks made McManus as disparaging to transgender people and “deeply hurtful and offensive.” At health care conference that May, the bishop had likened transgenderism to a man who identified as a pirate since childhood having his hand amputated and a hook put in its place.
Related Content:
Credit: Source link
