The Ryken Center at St. John’s High School in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts / John Phelan|Wikipedia|CC BY-SA 3.0
Boston, Mass., Aug 18, 2023 / 13:36 pm (CNA).
Members of religious orders affiliated with two Catholic high schools in Massachusetts have told Worcester Bishop Robert McManus that they will not be implementing the diocese’s new policy concerning gender ideology and sexual confusion because, they said, policies are already in place.
Xaverian Brother Daniel Skala, representing St. John’s High School, and Sister Patty Chappell of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, representing Notre Dame Academy, wrote a joint letter to McManus Aug. 11 saying that the boards of trustees of their religious orders decided to forgo implementing the bishop’s policy, according to the Patch.
The new diocesan policy was approved in June and “sent to all Catholic schools to incorporate into school handbooks beginning this fall,” an Aug. 15 statement from the diocese said.
“Students may not advocate, celebrate, or express same-sex attraction in such a way as to cause confusion or distraction in the context of Catholic school classes, activities, or events,” the guidance says.
The policy also addresses gender dysphoria and states that students should be treated in accordance with their biological sex.
“School practice shall consider the gender of all students as being consistent with their biological sex, including, but not limited to, the following: participation in school athletics; school-sponsored dances; dress and uniform policies; the use of changing facilities, showers, locker rooms, and bathrooms (with rare exceptions only on a limited, case-by-case basis, to be determined by the principal of the school); titles, names, and pronouns; and official school documents,” reads the memo sent by the bishop.
In their letter to McManus, the two religious said the schools would not adopt the bishop’s guidance but would instead continue to follow “established practices.”
“We feel confident that our schools are responding to the issues raised in your memo in a manner that respects the dignity of all persons, aligns to the mission and charism of our sponsoring orders, and protects and affirms our identity as Catholic schools,” the letter said.
“We support our respective boards’ recent determination to uphold their established practices, guided by the principles of our Church and religious orders, instead of incorporating the [new policies] into their handbooks,” the letter said.
CNA reached out to both orders inquiring about the policies that are already in place.
Susan Dennin, a spokeswoman for the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur U.S. East-West Province, told CNA Friday that Notre Dame Academy has “consistently followed both the legal guidance and recommendations of the National Catholic Educational Association that schools should not have a policy on transgender students.”
“NDA Worcester has approached these sensitive and complex circumstances in a pastoral manner that respects the dignity of all persons while also affirming the school’s Catholic identity,” she said.
“While supporting students and families, NDA Worcester maintains communication with province leadership in discerning mission appropriate responses to any unique family or student inquiries,” Dennin said.
CNA contacted the National Catholic Educational Association inquiring about any guidance it has given that schools should not have a policy on transgender students, but did not get a response by time of publication.
On the organization’s website there is a reference sheet which offers schools resources regarding Catholic social teaching and gender identity.
A spokesman for the Xaverian Brothers did not respond.
Ray Delisle, a spokesperson for the Worcester Diocese, said Friday: “First, I must make note that Bishop McManus has been away on the regional bishops’ retreat this week and I believe their letter arrived early this week.”
“That being said, policies take time to be implemented. Even though it was sent to all 21 schools in our diocese, including diocesan, parochial, and private Catholic schools, some schools may have had a policy in place,” he added.
“We will have to wait and see how it goes. Given all these factors, there is no response or comment to their letter at this time.”
The Worcester Diocese’s policy refers to Pope Francis’ frequent statements about the dangers of “gender ideology” and counsels schools to accompany those suffering from confusion related to their sexuality.
The policy says that “Pope Francis has repeatedly stressed the importance of a proper understanding of our sexuality, warning of the challenge posed by ‘the various forms of an ideology of gender that denies the difference and reciprocity in nature of a man and a woman and envisages a society without sexual differences.’”
“We must not demean or deny the sincerity and struggle of those who experience same-sex attraction or who feel their true gender identity is different from their biological sex. Rather, we seek to accompany them on their journey of life, offering them the light of the Gospel as they try to find their way forward,” the policy says.
Just over a year ago, McManus revoked the Catholic status of a Jesuit-run school in Worcester for defying his order to stop flying flags supporting LGBT pride and the Black Lives Matter movement.
In March Pope Francis called gender ideology “one of the most dangerous ideological colonizations.”
McManus is the latest of several other bishops to issue pastoral policies in schools in an attempt to address the issue of gender ideology, which the U.S. bishops in a 2017 ecumenical letter have called harmful to people and societies “by sowing confusion and self-doubt.”
This article has been updated.
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Prayer and fasting. Always good. Thousands of roses? I am sure. It did make the florists very happy.
Archbishop Cordileone asks us to pray and fast. I ask him to actually DO something. He has indicated that he is still in dialog (I hate that word) with Speaker Pelosi. If he has been doing this for all the years he has been bishop of San Francisco, it apparently has not done much good. She just pushed through the House the most drastic abortion bill ever – 218 democrats for and 210 republicans against. To solve a problem you have to accurately identify it. Those voting numbers show where the problem is in eliminating abortion. I don’t recall seeing that addressed by the bishops.
Archbishop Cordileone *is* doing something. Instead of privately begging NP to change her support of abortion, in utter defiance of Church teaching, as his predecessors have done to no avail, he is putting this out in the public. He gives no doubt as to his defense of Catholic teaching and his desire to save her soul from hell, and for attempting to prevent her from leading others into scandal and mortal sin. I’m not sure what else he can possibly do to get through to NP. It is certainly an Act of Mercy for him to ask for prayers and fasting for her soul and for the end of all abortion in the USA. I admire him for his courage and especially for his service to the Church.
In the history of biblical interpretation, the Book of Revelation’s 666 and antichrist has been wrongly and notoriously read to mean one’s enemy or anybody one detests: the Pope, Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Saddam, Obama, or Trump, etc. Similarly, Archbishop Cordileone here grotesquely implies by association that those who uphold abortion rights are Satanic.
Are you attempting to grotesquely imply that those who support infanticide are sanctified?
It certainly violates the 10 commandments, and the two commandments He gave us while here.
He is not “implying” it. He is openly suggesting it. And he is correct, Those who uphold infanticide are in the grip of Satan, whom they willingly serve.
I would also note that Satan has achieved the goal of convincing these poor dullards that he does not exist and thereby condones a belief that any action of hums that fulfills their desires is permissible.
Every now and then a statement such as yours causes me to bring up one of my favorite comebacks from about 50+ years ago in the Chicago Tribune by either Dear Abby or Ann Landers in response to an unusually moronic statement from one of her readers:
“You may have a point but if you keep your hat on maybe no one will notice.”
Pope Francis granted Nancy a private audience yesterday. That would be encouraging, if one actually believed that he confronted her about her support for abortion, which he recently termed as “murder.” It is more likely that he was “pastoral” rather than “political,” which would leave her with the impression that she is doing just fine. I think Jesus would have been “pastoral” and told her that she was endangering her eternal soul with her stance. That would be the most pastoral thing to do, as “pastoral” is not a synonym of “being nice.”
First, it is important that we are passionate to stop the murder of the innocent – especially defenseless children in the womb – is grounded in our love of God and His commandments (all of His commandments), including “Thou shalt not kill.” I fear too much of the time the passion of the Pro-Life movement is more about the movement, more about the cause, than the reason for the movement and cause – the eternal God and His commandments. We should be as passionate to change other evils in society as we are to change the evil practice of abortion (murder of innocent children in the womb). I know this will ruffle feathers of some, but it is intended to cause reflection on the real motivation behind the passion, and to ask for that same passion in defending the laws of God in every area of life and society.
Second, Moloch (also known as Molech, Milcom, Milkim, Malcham, Malik) was the name of the national god of the Ammonites, to whom children were sacrificed by fire. While those who support and/or practice the evil of abortion, which is nothing less than child sacrifice, may not believe they are worshiping Moloch (in effect worshiping demonic forces and even Satan), their beliefs in and practice of abortion is evidence they are submitting to the rule of Satan and demonic forces, in effect worshiping Moloch.
I would like to make some follow-up comments addressing Susan K.’s statement that Archbishop Cordileone is doing something. We have different concepts of what “doing” something is. He has been Pelosi’s bishop for nine years. I by no means think that Archbishop Cordileone is stupid. But there is an old saying that the definition of stupidity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Obviously what he has been doing for nine years has not worked. Pelosi is more pro-abortion now than she was nine years ago.
Doing something would be enforcing Canon 915 of Canon Law – that she cold not receive the Eucharist. Doing something would be saying that being pro-abortion is a disqualifying issue for being elected to any office. These types of actions may have some positive effect on her. Even if not, it may have some effect on the 50% of Catholics who vote for pro-abortion politicians. As it stands, there seem to be many Catholics who believe that since nothing happens to the pro abortionists, then it must be OK to vote for them.
I would also like to see a little outrage in the bishops’ statements regarding the murder of millions of unborn babies. A little “Woe to you pharisees (pro-abortionists) might go a long way.
This doesn’t have to do with Archbishop Cordileone, but I just saw today that Pelosi had a meeting with the pope over the weekend. Several smiling pictures of the two together. But there was also a news item that she attended mass in Rome on Sunday, and the heckling made her leave church. There is a video of the priest saying that he was sorry she had to leave, as she was going to do the second reading. Good Grief!
To be fair, let’s keep in mind that the president and Speaker of the House both claim that they are opposed to abortion, but they do not think that it is helpful to use government power to stop it.
good