Denver, Colo., Mar 29, 2020 / 05:00 am (CNA).- Sarah Sefranek, a Catholic wife and mother living in Parker, Colorado, is 37 weeks pregnant with her fourth child.
While she normally homeschools her other children even when there’s not a global pandemic on, coronavirus restrictions have changed what normal life looks like for everyone.
“It’s not regular homeschooling” right now, she said. “Regular homeschooling means you go out, you see your friends, you do exciting things.”
Sefranek and her family have been doing their best to stay home and maintain social distancing in order to avoid getting the coronavirus, especially so close to her due date. They’ve stopped going to the library, they’ve stopped playdates and book club meetings. Sefranek told CNA her husband leaves the house only to get groceries or other essentials.
But, like most pregnant women, even if Sefranek remains healthy, labor, delivery and postpartum recovery will likely look very different for her than they would have without pandemic restrictions.
“I know the things that were helpful to me when my (other babies) came, like having a meal train and having my mom come over. Now I can’t have playdates for my big kids while I’m recovering. I don’t even know where people are going to get the meat to make me meal for a meal train. So it is strange,” Sefranek said.
Things “suddenly felt a lot more serious” for Sefranek when her doctor offered to do a telemedicine visit for her 38 week appointment instead of an in-clinic appointment. Normally, at this point in pregnancy, Sefranek would be going in for weekly visits until she delivers. But her doctor told her this time, unless she had serious concerns that something was wrong, it would be best to do the visit over a video call.
Looming large among Sefranek’s worries – what happens if she, or her baby, get coronavirus?
“Recommendations are changing all the time, but right now, if I tested positive, they would want to separate the baby from me at birth, which is pretty scary to me,” she said.
There is also a shortage of coronavirus tests in most places in the U.S. Sefranek wonders what would happen if she showed up to the hospital to deliver, and had a cough or a fever, but could not get tested.
“I feel a little bit like I have to hide in even more of a bubble, because I feel I can’t catch anything at all. In a way, I feel I’m more scared of being separated from baby than I am of the virus itself,” Sefranek added, which she admits is “maybe not rational.”
A dearth of research on coronavirus and pregnancy
Information about pregnancy and coronavirus is scant, as the disease is so new and there has not been enough time for extensive research.
While pregnant women are not considered immunocompromised in the classic sense of the term, their immune systems are considered “suppressed,” meaning they are more susceptible to illnesses like the flu or coronavirus, and may suffer more severe symptoms and complications than they normally would have, were they not pregnant.
“With viruses from the same family as COVID-19, and other viral respiratory infections, such as influenza, women have had a higher risk of developing severe illness. It is always important for pregnant women to protect themselves from illnesses,” the CDC website states.
The CDC notes that it is still unknown whether mothers infected with coronavirus could pass the illness on to their babies, though it says that so far, no infants born to COVID-19 positive mothers have also tested positive for COVID-19. The virus has also thus far not been found in the amniotic fluid or breast milk of mothers who have tested positive.
There have been a small number of reported complications in pregnancy or delivery in mothers who are COVID-19 positive, though the CDC notes that it is unclear if the complications were related to the infection. Women of childbearing age are also in age categories where coronavirus death rates are not as high as older populations.
Jennifer Murphy is the medical director of the Pregnancy Support Center of Carroll County in Maryland. The pregnancy center helps women in crisis pregnancies or with low incomes with material assistance such as diapers, with medical care such as pregnancy tests or sonograms, and by connecting them with additional resources.
Murphy told CNA that so far, her center has not had any of their clients test positive for coronavirus. As a precaution, they have moved most of their operations to the parking lot, and only bring women into their facility if necessary, and once they have been screened for symptoms.
“You always worry that pregnant women are more susceptible to things than other people. So far, the data doesn’t seem to show that,” Murphy said.
“I’m not making light of it, but there’s so much in the news that’s horrifying, but most people will actually come through this just fine, and there’s not so far any evidence that pregnant women do worse than anyone else,” she added.
Murphy said she has been telling her clients to remain calm, to practice good hygiene and quarantine protocols, and to be in close contact with their doctors if they do suspect symptoms of coronavirus.
“It’s a lot of quelling of anxiety, a lot of folks who are just very afraid, and understandably,” Murphy said. “But anxiety isn’t good for you when you’re pregnant either, so we’re trying to emphasize positive things they can do quarantine-wise, and keeping their environment clean and calm as much as possible, and trying not to think too far ahead about bad things.”
“Pregnancy is a time of anxiety anyway, especially first time moms,” Murphy added. “And it’s hard not to have this add a great burden, but just to try to stay focused on a few good things and taking care of your baby. So just (focus on) keeping yourself safe, and probably not even overexposing yourself to media, because I think that just makes it worse,” she said.
“Be informed, but don’t make yourself crazy.”
Disrupting birth plans
The lack of information on pregnancy and coronavirus worries Anna H., a Catholic in Long Island, New York, where the pandemic has hit the hardest in the U.S. thus far. She is 22 weeks pregnant with her first child.
“It’s just the unknown,” Anna told CNA.
“There isn’t enough research on how it affects pregnant women, how it affects babies. I know there’s a lot of research that says that it probably isn’t too bad for the babies, but I also have asthma,” she adds, an underlying condition that could worsen the effects of coronavirus, a respiratory disease.
Anna, who teaches high school theology, said her school has been closed since March 12. She’s been teaching online, which is easier on her body, and she’s less worried about exposure now that she and her husband are working from home. She said she’s also grateful for the stay-at-home order in her state, and hopes the aggressive approach will slow the spread of the virus and relieve some of the pressure on hospitals and doctors.
Already in New York, some overwhelmed hospitals are not allowing pregnant women to bring any support people with them – no spouses, parents, children, friends or doulas.
“I’m pretty nervous about that,” Anna said. She and her husband joke that they would schedule a home birth with a midwife if it came down to him not being allowed at the birth – and Anna knows a Catholic mom in the area who has delivered all five of her children at home.
But she’s hoping it doesn’t have to come to that, and that things will calm down by the time she needs to deliver.
“Right now I feel like we don’t need to worry about that too much. We can put it in God’s hands for now,” she said.
Baylyn Wagner, who is 28 weeks along and due on June 19th with her third child, has already decided to change her labor and delivery plans in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Initially I thought, ‘Oh, it’ll for sure be over and done with by June and we won’t have to worry about delivery,’” Wagner, who lives in Minnesota, told CNA.
But then she started hearing reports of hospitals restricting support people for pregnant women to one person, or to no one. Her own hospital emailed her and told her that they would only allow one support person, even though Wagner had been planning on her husband, doula, and birth photographer attending her labor and delivery.
Wagner said her doctor tried to reassure her. Wagner had a late loss in her second pregnancy – she miscarried a little after 21 weeks – and in light of that, Wagner’s doctor said she would do her best to advocate for the hospital to make an exception for Wagner’s husband to be present for the birth of their third child.
“But she said if it gets to ‘full crisis mode,’ those were her words, they absolutely could limit it down because their priority is keeping their staff healthy. I know hospitals are doing what they can, but for us…with the anxiety we already had with this pregnancy, we chose to look into midwives to do a home birth option,” she said.
After talking with four different midwives, Wagner said it sounded to her like a lot of couples were making the same changes.
Wagner said they’ve also changed their contract with their birth photographer to a more tentative plan, that accounts for whether the photographer is sick and cannot come to the birth.
Wagner lives with her grandparents, so she said they will watch her son while she gives birth at home. Her grandfather is also a Catholic deacon, and she said she is considering asking him to baptize her child soon after the birth, in the event that churches are not yet open.
“There’s really no way to know right now what things will look like by June, if things will be better, if we’ll able to have Masses again by that point, or what the world will look like,” Wagner said.
Keeping calm, trusting God
Claire Le, who lives in Littleton, Colorado, is expecting her first child with her husband Huy. The Le’s said they stocked up on food as they saw the pandemic worsening, and since then they have been staying home as much as possible to avoid any exposure.
“My main fear is if I contract the virus, then I would have been in ICU and then my husband can’t be there during the delivery,” Claire said. “And then also, if hospital protocols get even worse, there may even be a chance he may not be there. So, right now we’re trying to control what we can, and trying to both stay healthy.”
“I think we just constantly remind ourselves that this is not in our control,” Huy added. “I mean, we can pray for a good May 1st due date where everything’s just back to normal, but things like that are not really under our control.”
Thinking about postpartum recovery is what makes Claire a little sad, she said. Her family is out in California, and they were planning to come see the baby and help out after the birth. But now, they’re not sure when a visit will be possible.
Huy and Claire are also wondering about the baptism, and if it will be performed privately.
Claire said she has found peace in prayer and offering up the situation to God.
“I know God’s been with us from the very beginning, from conception, and he’s been with us the whole way. I know we’ll be okay,” she said.
Huy said staying connected with loved ones, watching daily Mass on YouTube, and praying together as a couple has been helping them stay calm at this time.
“We went to a chapel which was relatively quiet, that gives us a little bit of a release where we can just go there and with God for a while,” he said.
Anna said she has been trying to balance her worries and anxieties by also counting her blessings.
“I always try to think about what blessings I have at this time: more time with my husband, more time prepare for the baby, more time to rest,” she said. “The fact that I’m not on my feet all the time is really helpful…teaching is physically demanding because you’re on your feet so much.”
The time at home has also afforded her more time to pray, Anna said.
“I did a novena to St. Gerard (a patron saint of pregnancy) when we first got pregnant and I just started the other day to do another novena to St. Gerard,” Anna said. “(I’m also) able to live stream daily mass, where normally when I’m a teaching I don’t have time for that.”
Wagner said she and her husband have been trying to say a daily rosary in order to stay calm at this time.
“(We’re) especially meditating on what Mary and Joseph went through and their pregnancy and their birth with Jesus, and uniting our own uncertainty to what they experienced,” she said.
She’s also been using Hallow, a Catholic prayer app that leads users through guided meditations similar to the popular Calm app, but based on Scripture readings.
“They’ve had a whole series of little guided meditations on different ways to cope with isolation and stress through all of this, so that’s been a nice tool and prayer as well,” she said.
Sefranek said the pandemic has made her identify more closely with women experiencing unplanned pregnancies, and helped her realize how much of life is out of her control.
“I planned this pregnancy nine months ago,” Sefranek said. “I didn’t plan to have a baby in the middle of pandemic…maybe every pregnancy, every birth, in a way, is unplanned.”
“I don’t want to diminish the pain and the difficulty of a real crisis pregnancy,” she added. “It just is reminding me of that…(because) so much of this outside of my control.”
Sefranek said she’s been saying a lot of “midnight rosaries” when she wakes up from pregnancy discomfort, and that’s been helping her to feel at peace, though she deeply misses the sacraments. She said she’s also been connecting with loved ones virtually to help ease her anxieties.
She is also paying attention to the small blessings in her life. For example, she said, the other day she found out that she had two extra boxes of sticks for her fertility monitor that she will need to track her cycle once the baby is born. She had previously been worried – panic buying has caused the sticks to be scarce online.
“(It was) a small thing, but maybe God had a plan for me and he used my absent mindedness to give me this small thing right now that could increase my peace,” she said.
“So that was a nice reminder that God can work through the things that feel really frustrating in the moment.”
[…]
Not at all surprising.
As best I understand the faith, Jesus was the most inclusive person in all of history. Anything that attempts to minimize his presence is exclusionary, not inclusionary.
Jim : I don’t believe you understand the Faith. Simply read any of the Gospels –I’m reading John right now –I’m halfway through. Jesus is without doubt not inclusive! On the contrary he is exclusive. Read for yourself. Read just one Gospel through. he is very hard on the Jews particularly. He calls them liars and refers to their Father as the Father of lies ( Satan , the devil ). he also refers to their synagogue as the “synagogue of Satan”. Does that sound exclusive to you ? Hear what He and the apostles have to say about Sin and False Religions. –It’s not pretty !
Dennis–Jim is right, although your point is not irreconcilable with his. Jesus was the most inclusive person in the sense that he calls everybody- and the most exclusive in that he calls them to ONE truth. A Catholic school can accept members of all faiths, but with goal of evangelization in mind!!!
Dennis: Jesus was a Jew. He,his mother Mary and father Joseph were also Jews and lived Jewish lives. Jesus was not referring to Jews in general but to the Pharisees and Sadducees who did not love their brothers and sisters. Jesus taught love for everyone. He preached to the gentiles, not just Jews. He wanted everyone to “love God with all their heart, mind, and soul, and to love their neighbor as themselves.”
This is just nutty. Jesus never condemned the Jews at all. He was a Jew, and he said not a jot of their law would be changed. You apparently failed biblical interpretation 101
Jesus most certainly condemned the leaders of the Jews. Calling them children not of Abraham as they claimed but the Devil – which is why they pushed Pilate to crucify him.
You miss the point, Dennis. Jim was just hoisting them with their own petard.
Jim, it is not “either or” but “both and”. I teach at a Catholic school in the Bay Area and we are proud to have a strong Catholic identity and we are inclusive and respect all people of different faiths. That’s how we can evangelize others, by witnessing to our inclusivity but without compromising who we are; just like Jesus did.
you will 0% identifying as Catholic if you keep this up. Chase the almighty dollar and you will pay the price in souls.
I would imagine that non Catholics are sending their children thee BECAUSE it is supposed to be a Catholic School and all that represents in this crazy world. Why ruin it for THEM?
GREAT POINT!!!
To be more welcoming to the growing number of non-Catholic students? Or a sell out to the world and a turning away from Christ? More likely the latter.
Yes.
Your thinking matches mine.
Very likely the later and it is nothing other than the later.
An Enemy, (abet widespread contraception/abortifacients), has done this..
1. Loss of Faith.
2. Few children.
3. Non existent religious teachers.
4. Rise in costs.
5. Private school sought for worldly gain.
Are we supposed to be surprised?
I agree. This is, to me, anti-Catholic behavior, masking as ” all-inclusive’ rhetoric. This is very sad, that people are allowing them to remove the statues. Where will it end?
A few points – there is no mention here of which saints were removed. Second, it seems a bit silly to speak of Dominican values when the school has clearly forgotten its Dominican “mission” which is to have classes that evangelize the faith. It is more likely that the school has fewer Catholic students because it cares less about promoting Catholicism and hence can make the poor excuse that no one is interested in certain classes about what the school itself seems to have lost interest in long before. Third: just some friendly advice – can the director of marketing and hire a Latin teacher.
Your thinking matches mine.
“‘The Dominican values are still being taught (at the school) every minute, but there are lots of other families that have been coming to the school. How do we reach out and embrace everybody who wants this Dominican education?…how do we continue Catholic education and have lots of different families of different backgrounds?’ she said.” The answer is a no-brainer for anyone possessing an apostolic spirit and normal Christian discernment. Those who do not possess this spirit and whose identity is less than Christocentric have no business running a Catholic school–indeed, no right under Heaven, human mandates notwithstanding. If a group of Cathar or Waldensian parents had approached St. Dominic and the nuns at Notre Dame de Prouille about educating their children response despite reservations, the response would have been clear: Unambivalent joy with loving effort to win their hearts over to the Catholic faith. Fundamental Dominican values are the same as they were 800+ years ago. … Purpose?: LAUDARE-BENEDICERE-PRAEDICARE. By what means?: CONTEMPLARE ET CONTEMPLATA ALIIS TRADERE. Centering on and handing on what?: VERITAS In what manner?: VERITATEM FACIENTES IN CARITATE.
Thank you, father. The state of Catholic Schools is very painful. If they indeed would have the spirit of St. Dominic they do welcome all students but not to keep them in darkness and under the yoke of falsehoods and heresies but to the Truth and Life of Christ Our Lord.
I totally agree.
Amen ! Alleluia! May Jesus Christ be praised!
As a Dominican Friar I am deeply distressed that a Catholic institution has chosen to succumb to the pressures of our secular society, which wants to deny the objective truth, Veritas, that God is present among us. Statues are a constant reminder that God is with us. Centuries ago stained glass windows were erected to tell the story of Christ when an agrarian-peasant community could not read. In this moment in our history when we are living in a post-Christian culture these statues represent a continuity with our past, in other words our TRADITION. The beauty of these statues are meant to lift our minds and hearts to God and the things of heaven. We need these sacramentals to inspire us to things above rather than what is on earth when our culture is slipping into depravity. In my opinion, those who have made this decision on behalf of inclusivity are seeking to promote a private school focused merely on placement in secondary schools of higher education. This is totally inconsistent with their desire to promote inclusivity. Inclusivity has nothing to do with test scores, advancement, and the cost of private education. I was a pastor with a school of 800 children. Not every child was Catholic but they were not offended by the Christian symbols, theology classes and celebration of mass. They and their parents knew what to expect when they enrolled them in a Catholic school. This is true inclusivity when children of different faiths can appreciate the similarities and differences among them while searching for the truth about themselves and God and what God desires for them. In the four years that I was there a number of the children along with their families converted to the Catholic faith. A little child shall lead them. Please pray for the conversion of these school administrators and for our country.
Amen.
And the non-Catholic families continue to enroll their children because…? The cafeteria’s menu is superior? The Friday Seafood selection is to die for? Are the 80%-ers unappreciative of the connection between Catholicism and a superior education, assuming that still exists at San Domenico?
The Great Apostasy …anyone???
When the basin of Man comes, will he still find faith on earth?
The Catholic parents will do nothing. They will roll over and accept this betrayal and pay 30K/yr anyway.
The Catholic parents will whine and cry but will not remove their children from this secular school.
So, they get what they deserve and their priests and bishop will remain silent with a variety of excuses for doing so.
I hope I am very wrong here. But I doubt it.
Unfortunately, this type of watering down of the Faith and Catholic environment has been going on for decades. The only major reason that I can see for parents of means, in sending their children to one of these in-name-only-Catholic-schools, is that a diploma from there still appears reputable and a way in to elite colleges and a comfortable life. If a student went into the school as a Catholic, it is highly unlikely that he or she would leave it Catholic. The world is all about feelings and inclusiveness these days. This is more important that gaining Heaven by the Cross.
A look behind the scenes of the lives and background of the major donors of the school would probably reveal a lot in the reasons behind these actions.
$30K per year? I looked up tuition at the school, you’re right.
Aren’t Catholic schools, especially high schools, becoming “private schools for the wealthy with 1 or 2 children?”
Are they really catholic anyway?
Experience taught me Catholic Medical Centers turned over to secular management that eventually the only semblance remaining of Catholicity is nominal. The name of the med center. Dominican Fr Seid is correct. I studied at the Angelicum [Pont U of St Thomas Aquinas] in Rome that had beautiful statues scattered about campus. And there were non Catholic students including a Turkish Muslim or two. No complaints whatsoever. What better way to unobtrusively convey the faith. San Domenico School is example of secular sellout of Christian values for secular values and increased cash. The Dominican Sisters nonetheless are at fault as were the Franciscan Sisters at the Catholic medical that turned management over to seculars. Shirking their responsibilities for greater comfort. The thirty pieces of silver has wide currency.
Fr Morello, thank you for your observations and your frequent appearances online in favor of the faith. I hope that your negative experience at the Angelicum was not within the past 10 years. If so, I will speak my confreres there at the next opportunity. I can attest that at least the American Dominicans presently assigned there to teach are zealous, spiritual friars who know and love God and are not the least bit PC. I am of the view that it is fine to have some Muslims studying at a Catholic school as long as (1) we are evangelizing them–which, sadly, has to be very discreet for reasons that we all well know; and (2) we are challenging them strongly in the classroom if their true motive is to obtain knowledge and credentials to undermine the universal Faith. We should be greedy for the souls (‘ salvation), not their tuition money.
Thanks Fr Seid. I was at the Angelicum from 99 to 02 and there were no issues whatsoever regarding the Faith, statues and so forth. In fact they had a daily Mass that many students attended and a beautiful liturgy. As said in Swahili [following my doctorate I taught at a seminary in Tanzania] Asante Sana.
Re-reading your comment Fr. Morello, I see that your intention can be read in two different ways. I apologize for the mistake if you were actually conveying the idea that non-Christians, including Muslims, receive a positive and helpful witness through the presence of vibrant Catholic art and that non-Christian students don’t necessarily have the problem that a certain kind of misguided “progressive” Catholic assumes.
Correct. It was positive.
“Cecily Stock, Head of School, told the Marin Independent Journal that the removal of sacraments from the curriculum was on account of a lack of interest from families, not an attempt to erase the school’s Catholic identity.”
But it will still do so quite handily thank you.
It seems to me that no one need bother in an attempt to “murder” Christianity in the West, its already committing suicide by slow strangulation.
Why do we even bother any more? Just wrap it all up and close it all down and put a for sale sign in front. Catholic church – had a good run, closed due to poor management.
What a way of thinking worth the deepest Garbage can!
“…the head of San Domenico School, Cecily Stock, claimed the decision was made “to make sure that prospective families are aware that we are an independent school.””…I trust that the Archdiocese will terminate any and all financial support so the school may be truly “independent”
So these parents who chose to send their children to a catholic school did not take that into account when making their decision whether or not to attend? I am thankful parents are speaking up against this creeping policy to remove all catholic references.
They have slowly over the years removed statues and now when it has gotten to the point of threatening catholic identity people have spoken up. I have yet to hear from the sisters who are still involved although less so than in years past.
I think there needs to be a full replacement of the administration as well as the board of directors if they believe being catholic means not being inclusive.
The first words of the article tell you what the problem is: “Over the last few years we’ve had fewer Catholic students as part of the community and a larger number of students of various faith traditions. Right now about 80 percent of our families do not IDENTIFY as Catholic.” Where else do we see this language? You can change your “identification” for gender, religion, whatever, as you wish. “Now I’m a ‘Catholic,’ now, I’m not! Presto-chango! It’s magic! I can ‘identify’ as anything I want, just by calling myself that! I’m a man! I’m a woman! I’m a ‘Catholic!’ I’m a pagan!” More grotesque confusion in the Bay Area.
“Take away the supernatural and what remains is the unnatural.” – G.K. Chesterton
“Tolerance is the virtue of man without convictions.” – G.K. Chesterton
“It is not that when men cease to believe in God they will believe in nothing, they will believe in anything” – G.K. Chesterton
“Take away the supernatural and what remains is the unnatural.” – G.K. Chesterton
“Tolerance is the virtue of man without convictions.” – G.K. Chesterton
“It is not that when men cease to believe in God they will believe in nothing, they will believe in anything” – G.K. Chesterton
“Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors to Christ.”
-Venerable John Paul II
Saint Thomas More said, “I do not care very much what men say of me, provided that God approves of me.”
“God does not require that we be successful only that we be faithful.” – Mother Teresa
Excellent.
“Deny Me before men and I will deny you before My Father.”
Imagine suggesting to the owner of a Kosher Deli that he serve ham sandwiches because many of his customers aren’t Jewish. How do you suppose he’d respond? “What, you can’t get ham at the Subway down the block?” The job of a Catholic School is to provide a Catholic education to its students. If they object to the “Catholic” part of that education (which embraces more than simply course material, but environment as well), there’s certainly another place those students can go that will not offend their religious sensibilities or those of their parents. Are none of those responsible for the operation of San Domenico School invested in CATHOLIC education? Unless they are, perhaps they should consider opening a Charter School that disassociates itself from the Dominican tradition, which is clearly about communicating the mysteries of the Catholic faith to its students.
You should be telling your students ALL of them this is a CATHOLIC institution. We will be teaching CATHOLIC religious education, be aware that ALL your children no matter what religion they are– will be learning the Catholic principles including sacraments. If you want to be a private secular school go for it– the Dominican Nuns should then have no part in it. They should be ashamed.
It ought to offend the non-Catholics to have the school think that removing statues that are part of the catholic identity of the school will help increase their sense of being welcomed. If I were to have my children attend a school with a different tradition I would respect that they value that tradition and wouldn’t expect or want them to diminish it for my sake. Perhaps it is the non-Catholic parents that need to step up and educate the school leaders!
It’s sick to remove the saints from the school. In our local area we had a problem with the local “Catholic school ” when they removed Latin for Chinese and had a art teacher come who draws profane and blasphemous images of our Lord that would be far too horrible to mention on this blog. When the art teacher’s profane art was brought up to the local Catholic authorities from a concerned parishioner, the parishioner was verbally yelled at in turn and rebuffed. The Catholic school wanted the money and didn’t give a care about that “art teacher” and their profane drawings of our Lord because the art teacher had a connection to big bucks for the school…
I think we need to be very Catholic at our schools, if someone takes offense at our saints then they can take themselves onto some other school.
Pray a rosary…. make a difference.
It seems as if Francis’ warnings against prioritizing money and a business mindset in the running of churches is falling on deaf ears in some quarters. Though that was inevitable ; surely, some parish administrators will ‘take it on board’.
Georgetown Univ. Jesuit of course did the same thing. It happened about the same time students in Poland were protesting to have crucifixes brought BACK into their classroom. When the Son of man returns will he find any faith on earth?
When I was a freshman at Dominican University (then Dominican Cllege of San Rafael) and in the process of coming back to Jesus and into the Catholic Church after getting involved in Buddhism and Hinduism with not so good results, I found great comfort in finding crucifixes in every classroom. I would often focus on the cricifix when anxious or afraid. That was in 1994. A year later, as I understand it, the Domenican Sisters of San Rafael who still had some say in the administration of the school, authorized the removal of all crucifixes across the campus. The reason given? To be inclusive and sensitive to those not of the Catholic faith. At the time a former Catholic turned Buddhist was the head of the School of Religion. I was reprimanded for removing posters promoting Planned Parenthood “services” from the stalls of a student restroom. I elected not to attend my graduation ceremony as they invited a widely known pro- abortion woman to be the commencement speaker. Pray for us all to remain faithful to Christ and to share faithfully the truth He came, suffered and was crucified for so that all might live.
An astonishing story. You really have my sympathy, and my admiration.
Surely, the low Catholic attendance at the school is all the more reason for the statue to remain there. It’s not exactly in your face proseltyzing, ina ny case. Just a subtle background presence, which is more than merited on any account.
No. This is not a result of complaints froom other religious groups, but the work of the Usual Suspects : the militant atheists.
Am I the only person left with the impression that these nuns seem to have no conception of the meaning of the word, ‘mission’, or ‘witness to a religious faith’. Christians have never done either by joining agnostics and atheists in their absence of faith.
Most of the Apostles were crucified, rather than ‘cave in’ to the status quo. That they are Domincan sisters seems all the more incomprehensible. It’s not as if the pupils are being actively proselitysed, either.
They seem to little understanding of the long-term effects of all manner of witnesses to the faith. In adolescence many devout children will lose their faith, but return to it later, often being able to reassess what they had learnt, when older and more mature in their understanding.
‘proselytized’ ! Sorry.
People need to stand up against this tyranny before we completely lose our free speech rights.
This “removing of statues” because of the many religions present is also the reason statues, bibles, pictures of christ, 10 commandments, and all the other religious displays are removed from public schools. They can’t favor one religion.
Yeah, but I’m reasonably sure a Catholic school is allowed to favor Catholicism.
Which statues were removed? This is a fundamental fact that has been omitted.
Sadly the millions of murdered Native Californians wont ‘t see the irony of how wealthy jews took over this school.
Oy Vey!