News
Bishop says school no longer Catholic after flying Black Lives Matter, Pride flags
Arguing that the flags “embody specific agendas and ideologies (that) contradict Catholic social and moral teaching,” Bishop Robert McManus of the Diocese of Worcester issued a decree on Thursday punishing the Nativity School of Worcester, a tuition-free private middle school that serves about 60 boys from under-resourced communities.
The decree prohibits the school from calling itself Catholic and prevents Mass and sacraments from taking place on school grounds.
PHOTO: In this Dec. 25, 2012 photo, Bishop Robert J. McManus says the blessing before the annual Bishop’s Christmas Dinner at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Worcester, Mass. (Rick Cinclair/The Telegram & Gazette via AP)
In a statement, the school said it began displaying the flags in Jan. 2021 at the request of its students, the majority of whom, it noted, are people of color.
“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,” said the school.
According to the school, when McManus became aware of the flags in March of this year, he asked the school to take them down. Later that month, an unknown person removed them, the school said, “[causing] harm to our entire community. The flags were later raised again.
MORE: Baltimore police investigate potential arson after 4 homes, Pride flag burn in same area
In May, McManus threatened to punish the school in an open letter, where he claimed the Church is “100% behind the phrase ‘black lives matter’” but accused “a specific movement with a wider agenda” of “co-opt[ing] the phrase.”
The school said it would seek to appeal the bishop’s decision while continuing to fly the flags.
A spokesperson for the diocese did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
A group of House Republicans are rallying together to try and get the Congressional Gold Medal awarded to former president Donald Trump.
Florida congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna is leading a congressional resolution in an attempt to bestow the medal onto Mr Trump, who is currently on trial facing 34 counts of falsifying business records relating to “hush money” payments he made to the adult star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election campaign. Mr Trump denies the charges.
Ms Luna wants the Republican presidential candidate to receive the honour “in recognition of his exceptional leadership and dedication to strengthening America’s diplomatic relations during his presidency,” according to legislative text.
Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot multiple times and gravely wounded Wednesday, but his deputy prime minister said he believed Fico would survive.
The prime minister had been greeting supporters at an event when the attempted assassination took place, shocking the small country and reverberating across Europe weeks before an election.
“I guess in the end he will survive,” Tomas Taraba told the BBC, adding: “He’s not in a life-threatening situation at this moment.”
Doctors fought for Fico’s life several hours after the pro-Russian leader, 59, was hit in the abdomen, Defense Minister Robert Kalina told reporters at the hospital where Fico was being treated.
Five shots were fired outside a cultural center in the town of Handlova, nearly 140 kilometers (85 miles) northeast of the capital, government officials said. Fico was shot while attending a meeting of his government in the town of 16,000 that was once a center of coal mining.
Shooting of Slovak prime minister sends shockwaves across Europe.
A suspect was in custody, and an initial investigation found “a clear political motivation” behind the assassination attempt, Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok said as he briefed reporters alongside the defense minister.
A Texas bridge was struck by a cargo ship on Wednesday morning, bringing traffic to and from a small residential island to a standstill as officials work to determine whether the structure is safe from collapse.
The incident happened around 10am according to the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office. The strike caused a piece of a a railway line attached to the Pelican Island Causeway to fall into the water but the bridge appears to be intact. No injuries have been reported.
According to the Galveston County Office of Emergency Management, the incident resulted in a vacuum gas oil spill. It’s not known how much of the oil has leaked into the water. Emergency responders are currently cleaning the fluids from the Galveston Channel.
Traffic was initially closed in both directions but has now opened to vehicles trying to get off the island. Vessel traffic in the water is closed.
The Texas Department of Transportation is currently examining structural impact to the bridge. “Galveston County and our partners will continue assessing the situation,” the office of emergency management said. Other agencies, including the US Coast Guard, have been called to the scene.
David Flores, a superintendent with the Galveston County Navigation District overseeing the Pelican Island Causeway, said a pushboat navigating two barges from Texas International Terminals lost control of the ships and hit an electrical line, sparking a fire.
Hightide and strong currents might have factored into the accident, he said, adding that traffic has slowly started to pick back up.
“There’s no way to get off the island except one car at a time,” the superintendent said.
The partially collapsed railway does not present a threat, Mr Flores added, noting that it was never operational. Part of the structure could be seen resting on top of the barge following the incident.
The Pelican Island Causeway is the only way in and out of Pelican Island, which is home to a Texas A&M University at Galveston campus. Taylor Bounds, a spokesperson for the university, said there were 180 students, faculty and staff on campus when the incident occurred.
Shortly after the bridge strike, electricity on the campus went out but was restored quickly.
A report from the Texas Department of Transportation published last year found that the bridge was vulnerable to a potential bridge strike. The department previously said that it had planned to start replacing the structure in the next two years.
In addition to the university, Seawolf Park, a memorial to USS Seawolf, and several maritime industry companies are based on the island, which has a population of about 10,000.
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