The bishop of Worcester diocese in Massachusetts has ordered a Catholic High School to remove both the BLM and Gay Pride flags from its campus after students, most of them colored, asked to fly to express their support for participation. . Bishop Robert McManus told the Birth School in Worcester, Massachusetts, that the flags were sending a “confusing and scandalous message” and were trying to “disrupt the structure of the family.” “It’s my claim that the Gay Pride flag represents support for gay marriage and the active life of an LGBTQ + lifestyle,” he said. “The same goes for the Black Lives Matter.”
The school resists expulsion
After raising the flags in 2021, the school resisted the demands of the Diocese of Worcester to remove them, despite warnings that it would be barred from being designated a Catholic school if it did not do so. In a decree issued this week, Bishop McManus said he had “no choice” but to pursue his threat. The decree also prohibits the school from conducting services or sacraments on its premises or in any within its Diocese. The school is further prohibited from raising any funds relating to institutions affiliated with the Diocese of Worcester. The School of Birth said it would appeal the decision. At the same time, President Thomas McKenney said the school had decided to continue waving flags outside its building “to give a visible witness to the school’s solidarity with our students, their families and their communities”. Mr McKenney noted that Pope Francis had “praised the approach and inclusion of LGBTQ + individuals”, while the US Conference of Catholic Bishops had supported the BLM movement. “Although any symbol or flag can be chosen by political groups or organizations, flying our flags does not support any organization or ideology, they support marginalized people,” he added.
“BLM seeks to disrupt family structure”
In his decree, Bishop McManus stated that the church “stands firmly behind the phrase ‘the lives of blacks matter.’ However, he said the BLM movement had threatened universal teachings about the nuclear family. In a more deleted section of its website, BLM said it was trying to “disrupt the Western-envisioned nuclear family structure by supporting each other as extended families – collectively caring for each other, especially our children.” The movement “promotes a platform that is in direct conflict with the universal social teaching on the importance and role of the nuclear family and seeks to disrupt the family structure,” he said. “I argue that the Gay Pride flag represents support for gay marriage and the active life of an LGBTQ + lifestyle. “The same goes for the Black Lives Matter,” he said.
The school is unlikely to suffer financially
The decision of the Diocese was criticized by the parents and the staff of the school. The school for male Jesuits is aimed at children aged 10 to 14 from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Some noted that it came during Pride Month and in view of “June”, a new national holiday to celebrate the end of slavery. Ray Delisle, a spokesman for the Diocese of Worcester, said the bishop was waiting for the order to be issued after the school year. He added that the language of the decree “confirms our responsibility to love everyone regardless of race”. The school is unlikely to suffer financially from the decision, as it is funded by private donors, institutions and companies. “We do not receive any funding from the Diocese and the government and control of school functions are completely independent of the Diocese,” said its president.
