Loss of Catholic Schools Would be an "American Tragedy" Says Archbishop

The Pilot [Boston] ^ | 6/17/20

[marshmallow]

LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles said June 16 that his recent virtual message to 2020 graduates -- posted on YouTube and shared on social media -- is "a sign of these unusual times" amid the coronavirus.

He said his prayer is that the class of 2020 "will be remembered as a heroic generation that used the gifts of a Catholic education to love and serve and build a better world at a time of national distress, when society had been turned upside down by a deadly pandemic and faced widespread uncertainty about the future."

But he is praying for something else, too, he said: "that we can act to sustain the schools they graduated from, because right now Catholic schools are facing enormous challenges."

Archbishop Gomez, who is president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, made the comments in his weekly column, Voices, in Angelus News, the multimedia news platform of the Los Angeles Archdiocese.

He urged support for government aid to help to keep Catholic schools open.

Struck by the pandemic, several dioceses in the nation have announced closures at the end of the 2019-2020 academic year, according to USCCB education officials and leaders of the National Catholic Educational Association.

"If Catholic schools are allowed to fail in large numbers, it would cost public schools about $20 billion to absorb their students, a cost already-burdened public schools should not be made to bear," Archbishop Gomez said.

"And the loss of Catholic schools would be an American tragedy. It would set back opportunities for generations of children living in low-income and inner-city neighborhoods," he added. "We cannot accept this outcome for America's children."

Before the U.S. Supreme Court's current term ends June 30, the justices are to hand down a decision on the.....

[pnut22]

Loss of Catholic schools will kill the ruler market.

[Starcitizen]

Madrassas and Confucius Centers to replace Catholic Schools, with DNC approval

[pnut22]

I first read that a madasses and confusion centers.

[Bigg Red]

Your comment is about 65 years behind the times.

[redfreedom]

He wants government aid to keep Catholic schools open. What a can of worms. Being tax exempt is plenty.

I’m not a fan of Catholicism, if their schools closed I do not think it would be a tragedy if it happened via natural causes. To be closed by leftist thugs would be a tragedy, as any other religion could be next.

[pnut22]

That’s age shaming. Off with your head.

[workerbee]

I attended Catholic school in the 1970s thru 1981. Probably the very tail end of anything worthwhile in terms of the faith. YMMV

[ConservativeMind]

No government aid for Catholic schools, but everyone should be able to have tax paid vouchers so their kids can attend.

[MrChips]

Do you know that in England, of all places, with its long history of anti-Catholicism since the days of Henry the eighth, today parliament actually helps to fund Catholic schools around the country.

[Da Coyote]

My first Catholic school was in sixth grade when the parents moved to New Jersey so dad could to to communications school (real comms, not that social crap). I, who had straight As prior, found myself completely behind the power curve. Thanks to nuns with paddles and no patience for laziness, they pumped me to the point that I was given a tremendous advantage. University, grad school, and a doctorate were actually peanuts compared to those couple of years in C. School.

As for pub(l)ic skoolz, may they rot in hel...er...NYC.

[libertylover]

He urged support for government aid to help to keep Catholic schools open.

Government money? Probably not.

[ebb tide]

The loss of Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles would be a blessing to Catholic families as compared to homeschooling.

Los Angeles archdiocese promotes LGBT agenda at Religious Education Congress

[faithhopecharity]

Suggest trying to regain the once- Catholic colleges ( at least stop thtm from promoting immoral “causes”). For starters this would be tremendous

[Bigg Red]

Shoot, if you must, this old gray head, But spare your country’s flag....

[pnut22]

We may be the only people here who even understood the ruler reference. Think I’ll keep you around.

[Alberta's Child]

“And the loss of Catholic schools would be an American tragedy. It would set back opportunities for generations of children living in low-income and inner-city neighborhoods,” he added. “We cannot accept this outcome for America's children.”

What an obtuse, tone-deaf dope. Very few of the children are even Catholic in many inner-city Catholic schools. Why keep an expensive parochial school open to accommodate them?

[LadyDoc]

many children in inner city Catholic schools are not members of the church, but it is a way for many families to ensure their children get a decent education.

Catholics have a long tradition of schools and hospitals treating non believers, not to push religion down their throats but because this is an act of charity.

[AbnSarge]

Why keep an expensive parochial school open to accommodate them?

Because it's the only chance that many of those kids will ever have to break free of the disaster most inner city schools have become?

[Alberta's Child]

Catholics have a long tradition of schools and hospitals treating non believers, not to push religion down their throats but because this is an act of charity.

I don’t know where you got that notion. Catholic schools were established in this country so Catholic children could be educated outside the influence of our dominant Protestant culture. The bishops who built the parochial schools that became fixtures in so many American cities in the 19th century hardly gave much thought to accommodating non-Catholics.