The students at Nativity School, a predominantly Black Catholic middle school in Worcester, MA, resoundingly expressed their wishes back in January 2021:
They wanted to fly a Black Lives Matter and a Pride flag over their school to signal inclusivity.
More than a year later, however, Bishop Robert McManus of the Diocese of Worcester told school officials to remove the flags, saying that the school would be “prohibited from identifying itself as a Catholic school” if it did not comply.
The school refused. They chose to rightfully ignore the bigot and continue to proudly fly their flags.
Last week, Bishop McManus wrote in a letter to the school that he had “no other option” but to declare the school as no longer Catholic.
I’d like to offer an alternative solution to this impasse:
Given that the Catholic Church knowingly concealed the longterm sexual assault and molestation of thousands of children and allowed those crimes to continue to be perpetrated for decades, perhaps Catholic Church leaders have lost the right to tell children what is right and what is wrong.
I’d like to propose that as a result of their criminal behavior, the Catholic Church has relinquished their authority over kids. Ceded the moral high ground. Proven themselves unfit to hold sway or influence in this particular arena.
Yes?
If you couldn’t protect children from being knowingly raped by the leaders of your own church for decades and subsequently covered up those crimes to protect your child rapist friends, then you don’t get to say a damn thing to kids anymore about what is right and just and good.
Fly those flags, kids.
Keep your Catholic school designation if that’s what you want.
Dare the Catholic Church to sue you. Double dare them.
Tell that bigoted bishop to go to hell.
I wrote a letter to Bishop McManus today saying exactly this on your behalf.
I wrote one to the Pope, too.
Both addresses, it turns out, are quite easy to find.
