Black Lives Matter flag and LGBT pride flag fly outside Nativity School of Worcester, a Jesuit middle school in the diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts, in April 2022. / Joe Bukuras/CNA
The local bishop has removed the Catholic status of a Jesuit middle school in Worcester, Massachusetts, after it defied his order to stop flying flags supporting LGBT pride and the Black Lives Matter movement.
“The flying of these flags in front of a Catholic school sends a mixed, confusing and scandalous message to the public about the Church’s stance on these important moral and social issues,” Bishop Robert McManus of Worcester said in a June 16 decree.
“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,” he said. “Mass, sacraments, and sacramentals are no longer permitted to be celebrated on Nativity School premises or be sponsored by Nativity School in any church building or chapel within the Diocese of Worcester.”
Canon law states that “no school, even if it is in fact Catholic, may bear the title ‘Catholic school’ except by the consent of the competent ecclesiastical authority.”
McManus said it is his “sacred duty and inherent responsibility” to determine when a school acts contrary to Catholic teachings and “disregards my legitimate authority as the guardian and overseer of Catholic education in the Diocese of Worcester.”
In his decree the bishop elaborated on his specific concerns about the flags.
“It is my contention that the ‘Gay Pride’ flag represents support of gay marriage and actively living a LGBTQ+ lifestyle,” McManus said.
“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,” the bishop continued.
“However, the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement has co-opted the phrase and promotes a platform that directly contradicts Catholic social teaching on the importance and role of the nuclear family and seeks to disrupt the family structure in clear opposition to the teachings of the Catholic Church.”
The school has stated that it would appeal the judgment and will continue to fly the flags, claiming that the diocese’s decision will have no impact on its activities.
Television news reports from the school on Thursday showed the flags still flying, along with the American flag.
BLM organization at issue
The Nativity School of Worcester, administered by the Jesuits, educates boys in grades five through eight. Its student body is largely African-American and Latino, and it is tuition-free. It is a private school that is not affiliated with the diocesan education system.
The school has flown a rainbow LGBT pride flag and a variation of a Black Lives Matter banner since January 2021. The flags were torn down in March 2022 by an unknown individual. On April 3, McManus addressed the flag dispute, as the school was threatened with losing its Catholic accreditation.
After the contentious shooting of Trayvon Martin in 2012, which was judged self-defense, the term “Black Lives Matter” gained traction. It was evoked during the 2014 Ferguson, Missouri riots, which were sparked by the deadly police shooting of a Black man, Michael Brown, which was later judged to be self-defense. It became a rallying cry for opponents of police violence and racism after the 2020 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.
McManus’ comments on June 16 did not explain why he believes the Black Lives Matter movement is undermining the family. The Black Lives Matter Global Network, the largest recognized group with the motto, has supported LGBT ideology and opposes the nuclear family. Until September 2020, the group’s website said that it wanted to “dismantle cisgender privilege,” “disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure,” and develop “a queer-affirming network” as part of its social justice and anti-racist efforts. Currently, the group is defending itself against allegations of financial mismanagement.
In an April 3 statement, McManus said the Black Lives Matter emblem, “has at times been co-opted by some factions which also instill broad-brush distrust of police and those entrusted with enforcing our laws.”
The school’s response
Thomas McKenney, Nativity School’s president, described McManus’ move as “a shift in Nativity’s relationship with the Diocese of Worcester and our continuous commitment to offering a quality education founded in the Jesuit tradition” in a June 15 letter to the school community.
The school is “completely sponsored by the generosity of people, charities, and companies,” according to McKenney. It gets no diocesan financing and is “totally autonomous of the diocese” in terms of governance and supervision of school operations.
“Please know that any decisions made by the diocese will not change the mission, operations or impact of Nativity,” he told the school community.
McKenney said the school began to fly the flag in response to the middle school students’ “call to express support for making our communities more just and inclusive.”
“As a multicultural school, the flags represent the inclusion and respect of all people. These flags simply state that all are welcome at Nativity and this value of inclusion is rooted in Catholic teaching,” he said.
“Pope Francis has praised the outreach and inclusion of LGBTQ+ people. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops supports the spirit and movement of ‘Black Lives Matter.’ Both flags are now widely understood to celebrate the human dignity of our relatives, friends and neighbors who have faced, and continue to face hate and discrimination.”
“Though any symbol or flag can be co-opted by political groups or organizations, flying our flags is not an endorsement of any organization or ideology, they fly in support of marginalized people.”
McManus’ decree prohibits Nativity School from any fundraising at diocesan institutions. The school also is barred from being listed in or advertising in the diocese directory. In addition, Worcester Bishop emeritus Daniel P. Reilly’s name must be removed from the school’s board of trustees.
According to NBC News Boston, Raymond Delisle, a spokesman for the diocese, said McManus “was just looking for alternatives to the flags to be able to get the same points across, that Black Lives do matter, that God loves everyone. But does it have to be done with specific logos, if you will, of a particular organization that we have differences with?”
McKenney said the school “will seek to appeal the decision of the diocese to remove our Catholic identity through the appropriate channels provided by the Church in circumstances like this.”
“At the same time, after meaningful deliberation and discernment by its board, leadership team, faculty, and partners, Nativity will continue to display the flags in question to give visible witness to the school’s solidarity with our students, families, and their communities. Commitment to our mission, grounded and animated by Gospel values, Catholic Social Teaching, and our Jesuit heritage compels us to do so.”
The senior administration of Worcester’s Jesuit-run College of the Holy Cross developed the school, which opened in 2003 to address low graduation rates among boys who come from economically insecure homes.