Charlotte Catholic assembly grabs national attention, headlines
Last Updated on Thursday, 10 April 2014 12:15
First, it was attention over the petitions of students and their supporters, and the questions and criticisms raised about the March 21 student assembly – primarily from local media like the Charlotte Observer and WBTV-TV and gay activist media such as QNotes and Advocate.com who generally sympathetically viewed the student petition opposing the assembly.
These headlines stated "Parents outraged by presentation from Catholic nun" and "Anti-gay Charlotte Catholic High lecturer sparks controversy."
A subsequent parents meeting April 2 by Charlotte Catholic administrators and diocesan leaders sparked another round of news coverage, mostly from Catholic bloggers and conservative groups who roundly denounced the school, diocesan officials, students and parents as not being Catholic enough on the issue.
When the Dominican sister announced that she was withdrawing from her scheduled appearance at the Diocesan Youth Conference, and when her Nashville, Tenn., religious community issued a statement that she was taking a sabbatical, national interest in the Charlotte Catholic controversy grew exponentially. The story was picked up by the Huffington Post, USA Today and FOX, among others.
Catholic blogs including The Crescat, Father John Zuhlsdorf, Catholic Culture, novusordowatch.org, liturgyguy.com, Women of Grace, TraditionalCatholicPriest.com, and conservative-leaning websites such as Life Site News, breitbart.com and freerepublic.com all featured the story, among several others.
Their coverage decried the state of Catholic education and catechesis, in one case calling Charlotte Catholic an "oasis of heterodoxy." They condemned the criticism of the school chaplain and the Dominican sister, and they staunchly defended what they characterized as Catholic teaching on homosexuality.
Their headlines shouted "Sister explains the situation. Spittle-flecked nutty, bullying, intimidation ensue" and "A Catholic High School Teaches Catholic Doctrine and Everyone Loses Their Minds..." and "What the Charlotte controversy reveals about the acceptance of Catholic teaching."
AmericanCatholic.com blogger Donald R. McClarey even publicly lambasted Bishop Peter Jugis for not being present at the parents meeting, labeling a April 3 blog post "Profiles in Cowardice."
These conservative Catholic bloggers also linked the situation to what breitbart.com called "increasing climate of hostility to Christianity from the same-sex-attracted and their allies" – lumping the controversy in with the Boy Scouts and Disney World, the former CEO of Mozilla, and "homosexual activists in Germany (who) threw feces at Christians demonstrating over educational questions."
One local Catholic school parent wrote with exasperation to Deacon Greg Kandra, who writes the blog The Deacon's Bench, that everyone who had a part in the assembly could have done a better job, but they all had students' welfare at heart and the apologies were "good enough for me."
"All this media attention is a bit disconcerting," she wrote. "I feel as if I am on the middle of a battle field right now."
The uproar prompted local priests including Father Timothy Reid of St. Ann Church in Charlotte to urge people on both sides of the issue to go to confession and pray for reparation for the "hate-filled tirades and malicious and calumnious accusations," he said in his April 6 homily.
Summarizing the local and national attention over the issue, diocesan communications director David Hains noted, "The attention of the past weeks has presented an unplanned opportunity to emphasize once again that the teaching of the Catholic Church challenges each of us to think about our relationship with God. There has been a lot of emotion over this issue, but in the end it is a good thing when people of faith are talking about faith."
— Patricia L. Guilfoyle, editor
Related stories
- Bishop Jugis calls Charlotte Catholic controversy 'difficult'
- Charlotte Catholic student petition taken offline
- Dominican nun at heart of Charlotte Catholic controversy takes leave from teaching
- Angry parents condemn Charlotte Catholic student assembly on sexuality
- Charlotte Catholic speaker sparks student petitions
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