A bishop said that a school in Massachusetts can no longer be called Catholic after it flew flags symbolizing LGBT Pride and Black Lives Matter on its campus.
A bishop has declared that a school in central Massachusetts "may no longer identify itself as Catholic" because it refused to remove two flags, one for Black Lives Matter and one for LGBT Pride that began flying on its campus in 2021. Bishop Robert J. McManus issued a decree that Nativity School in Worcester, Massachusetts is now supporting movements that are "inconsistent with Catholic teaching."
Bishop McManus of the Diocese of Worcester declared in a decree on Thursday that the Black Lives Matter and LGBT Pride flags "embody specific agendas and ideologies (that) contradict Catholic social and moral teaching," ABC News reported. Now, the Nativity School of Worcester, which is a tuition-free private middle school for some 60 or so boys from low-income communities, is being punished for flying such flags and is banned from calling itself Catholic. The Bishop also banned the school from holding Mass and sacraments on school grounds.
School Defends Its Position on Flying BLM and LGBT Pride Flags
In a statement, Nativity School of Worcester explained that it is a "multicultural" school with most of its students being people of color. They said that the Black Lives Matter and LGBT Pride flags that were flown on campus "simply state that all are welcome at Nativity and this value of inclusion is rooted in Catholic teaching."
The Massachusetts school added that when Bishop McManus was informed of the Black Lives Matter and LGBT Pride flags on school campus back in March, the school was ordered by the bishop to take them down. Later in March, someone took down the flags, but they were raised once again because removing them was "[causing] harm" to their community.
Also Read: Oregon School Board Bans Flying LGBT Pride And BLM Flags
Bishop Contends That BLM and LGBT Pride Flags Oppose Catholic Teachings
Bishop McManus argued that the "Gay Pride" flag represents support of same sex marraige and "actively living a LGBTQ+ lifestyle," while the Black Lives Matter flag "promotes a platform that directly contradicts Catholic social teaching" when it comes to the "importance and role" of the nuclear family. The bishop added that the BLM movement is seeking to deconstruct the American family structure, which opposes Catholic Church teachings, CBS News reported.
In 2020, the New York Post reported that the Black Lives Matter official website had removed a section on its page that disparaged the "Western-prescribed nuclear family structure." Instead of the nuclear family, BLM suggests that they support each other as "extended families and 'villages' that care for one another." The removed section also said that the group's goal is to "dismantle the patriarchal practice" that causes mothers to work twice as hard to support their families. One of Marxism's central tenets is the dismantling of the "nuclear family structure."
Bishop McManus insisted that the flying of Black Lives Matter and LGBT Pride flags at the Nativity School of Worcester "sends a mixed, confusing and scandalous message to the public about the Church's stance on these important moral and social issues."
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