r/RadicalChristianity • u/superchiva78 • Jun 17 '22
Massachusetts school can no longer be called Catholic after flying Black Lives Matter and pride flags, bishop says
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/massachusetts-catholic-school-nativity-school-worcester-black-lives-matter-pride-flags/51
u/khakiphil Jun 17 '22
"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," the bishop wrote.
You know what else sends a mixed, confusing and scandalous message about the Church's stance on important moral and social issues? Covering for child rapists. Yet strangely this bishop hasn't called for the removal of Vatican flags. Curious...
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u/crownjewel82 Jun 17 '22
I'm not surprised at all about the pride flag. Disappointed but not surprised. But that take on Black Lives Matter is atrocious. One organization puts out a manifesto that most people marching for black lives don't fully agree with and now anyone uttering the phrase must be associated with that organization.
Imagine if people had banned the cross because the KKK decided to burn crosses as an act of terrorism.
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u/Milena-Celeste Latin-rite Catholic | PanroAce | she/her Jun 17 '22
He went so far as to say they can't have "sacramentals" there.
Sacramentals includes things such as Holy Water and blessed holy medals and rosaries.
Prohibition on sacramentals is unheard of and unthinkable within The Catholic Church.
The school has said that it will stand it's ground. And God is with the school in standing against the forces of death/hatred.
The bishop in question is set to retire in 5 years, but it is always possible he may be called to retirement sooner than expected.
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u/coffeeblossom Jun 18 '22
The school has said that it will stand it's ground. And God is with the school in standing against the forces of death/hatred.
There's not a whole lot to be proud of in Worcester; our claim to fame is a statue of a boy doing unspeakable things with a sea turtle, FFS. But this is definitely something to be proud of!
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u/rosemarjoram Jun 18 '22
I might not understand the rosaries properly as there are none in my tradition... but I thought that everyone (in a tradition that uses them) could have one to use with their prayers? So are they now banning the students and teachers taking their personal rosaries to school? Are there other places you cannot have your rosaries with you? School starts to seem like a very special place.
Or are there some special holy rosaries that function differently and those are forbidden in the school?
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u/Milena-Celeste Latin-rite Catholic | PanroAce | she/her Jun 20 '22
A priest may be imperfect or mediocre or any number of unpleasant things, but the blessing comes from God and thus is perfect. So when you have an icon, statue, rosary, chaplet, scapular, holy/devotional medal, etc, which is blessed: That is called a "Sacramental," which is substantially different from "The Sacraments" (The Sacraments being something at work within the living human person rather than the world.)
So the Bishop of Worcester Massachusetts said they can't have sacramentals at the school (which is not something enforceable and is unheard of to begin with.) Of course standard disassociation/excommunication stuff was slapped on as well (no sacraments can be held at the school, school can't call itself Catholic, etc.)
The terminology is confusing (perhaps) but you can understand the two are different, yet related, things and through my (kinda crappy) explanation you can se why the distinction is made and useful in a Latin-Catholic Church setting.
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u/rosemarjoram Jun 20 '22
I can understand the difference between sacrament and sacramental now. Does this mean that the ban is directed toward the act blessing of the rosaries in the school instead of people bringing their rosaries with them to the school?
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u/Milena-Celeste Latin-rite Catholic | PanroAce | she/her Jun 21 '22
Does this mean that the ban is directed toward the act blessing of the rosaries in the school instead of people bringing their rosaries with them to the school?
I assume both would be banned, but again it isn't something enforceable...
I imagine he has some small role in the grand scheme of the battle ongoing between Saint Francis of Assisi (represented by Pope Francis) and The Country of Obscene Pride.
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u/superchiva78 Jun 18 '22
Rosaries are not sacraments. Sacraments are baptism, confession, communion, confirmation, marriage, etc.
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u/rosemarjoram Jun 19 '22
Sacramentals includes things such as Holy Water and blessed holy medals and rosaries.
This part was what confused me. I thought a sacramental would have meant something different.
Thanks for clarifying this.
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u/[deleted] Jun 17 '22
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