Mass. School Can’t Call Itself Catholic for Flying Pride and BLM Flags
Massachusetts Catholic school can no longer call itself Catholic after a local bishop declared that its Pride and Black Lives Matter flags were incongruent with church teachings.In April, Bishop Robert McManus issued a statement opposing Nativity School of Worcester's display of Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ+ Pride flags.
By doing so, he expected the school to comply and remove the flags, but administrators have refused.Now, McManus has forbidden the school from identifying as Catholic.On Thursday, the Diocese of Worcester posted a decree about Nativity School on its website."The Nativity School of Worcester is prohibited from this time forward from identifying itself as a ‘Catholic’ school and may no longer use the title ‘Catholic’ to describe itself," McManus declared.In an open letter published in May, he claimed that "These symbols (flags) embody specific agendas or ideologies (that) contradict Catholic social and moral teaching." His issue with the school's Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ+ Pride flags is that they send a message of support."It is my contention that the 'Gay Pride' flag represents support of gay marriage and actively living a LGBTQ+ lifestyle," McManus notes.While seemingly invalidating the social justice movement, he explains his opposition to the Black Lives Matter flags.
He writes, "This is also true of 'Black Lives Matter.' The Catholic Church teaches that all life is sacred, and the Church certainly stands unequivocally behind the phrase 'black lives matter' and strongly affirms that all lives matter."McManus claims that the Black Lives Matter movement does not reflect Catholic teachings:"The 'Black Lives Matter' movement has co-opted the phrase and promotes a platform that directly contradicts.
