The college complied with the bishop’s request. Ted Kennedy, to be its commencement speaker, citing her public support for legalized abortion and gay marriage.
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In February 2012, McManus asked Anna Maria College in Paxton, Massachusetts, to rescind its invitation to Victoria Kennedy, widow of the late Sen. The conflict with Nativity School is not the first time McManus has made headlines for his engagement with Catholic education in his diocese. Reynolds, formerly of Leominster, Massachusetts, who was killed during a NATO training exercise on March 18. In response to a later email inquiry, McKenney told CNA that the flags were flying at half-staff Monday in honor of Marine Captain Ross A. The province did not respond to CNA’s request for comment Monday. That is the purpose of flying these flags.” McKenney noted in the statement that Nativity is not a diocesan school and is sponsored by the USA East Province of Jesuits. McKenney added: “It says to them that they, in fact, do matter and deserve to be respected as our Christian values teach us. The school’s president, Tom McKenney, said in a statement issued Monday that the flags fly to “remind our young men, their families and Nativity Worcester staff that all are welcome here and that they are valued and safe in this place.” Both flags were displayed at half-staff outside the school.
AFRICAN AMERICAN GAY PRIDE FLAG TV
News of the controversy drew reporters and TV crews to the school on Monday. Delisle said the school risks “no longer being identified as a Catholic institution” if it persists in flying the flags. McManus has been communicating with school administrators since the flags were brought to his attention about a month ago, diocesan spokesman Ray Delisle told CNA. “Is the school committing itself to ideologies which are contrary to Catholic teaching? If so, is it still a Catholic school?” he asked. “And, while we teach that everyone is created in the image and likeness of God, gay pride flags are often used to stand in contrast to consistent Catholic teaching that sacramental marriage is between a man and a woman,” the bishop continued. “We do not teach that in our schools,” McManus said. “While the Catholic Church joins with our nation in teaching that all lives are equal before God and the law and that all lives demand our respect regardless of race, gender or ethnicity, the flag with the emblem Black Lives Matter has at times been co-opted by some factions which also instill broad-brush distrust of police and those entrusted with enforcing our laws. “While our role in a school is not to convert those who are not Catholic, nor is it our role to deny our Catholic identity,” he added. While noting that “symbols can mean different things to different people,” McManus said that “as the Bishop of this diocese, I must teach that it is imperative that a Catholic School use imagery and symbols which are reflective of that school’s values and principles so as to be clear with young people who are being spiritually and morally formed for the future.” In a statement issued April 3, McManus expressed concerns that the flags could lead to confusion about the Catholic Church’s teaching on civil authority and gay marriage.
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The middle school, which is privately run and not part of the diocesan school system, has a predominantly African-American and Latino student body. The Nativity School of Worcester, in Worcester, Massachusetts, has been displaying the flags for more than a year, the Boston Globe has reported, but Bishop Robert McManus of Worcester only recently learned about them, a diocesan spokesman told CNA Monday. A Jesuit-run middle school in Massachusetts could lose its Catholic designation if it ignores the local bishop’s call to stop flying Black Lives Matter and gay pride rainbow flags outside its building.