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-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Calif. Catholic school removes Jesus and Mary statues: ‘Alienating’
2017-08-27
[WASHINGTONTIMES] An independent Catholic school in San Anselmo, California, has sparked the ire of some parents after officials removed and relocated a large number of religious statues, reportedly including those of Jesus and Mary, in order not to alienate children of other faiths.

Amy Skewes-Cox, who heads San Domenico School’s board of trustees, said at least 18 of the 180 religious icons still remain at the school as part of a plan approved unanimously by the board last year, the Marin Independent Journal reported.

Ms. Skewes-Cox said the timing of the statues’ removals and the national statue debate spurring from the unrest in Charlottesville, Virginia, is an unfortunate coincidence and have “absolutely no connection other than it is change, and people have a hard time with change.”

“If you walk on the campus and the first thing you confront is three or four statues of St. Dominic or St. Francis, it could be alienating for that other religion, and we didn’t want to further that feeling,” she said.

Sister Maureen McInerney, prioress general of the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael, said the plan is to make the K-12 school more inviting to students of all faiths.

“San Domenico is a Catholic school; it also welcomes people of all faiths,” she told the Marin Independent Journal. “It is making an effort to be inclusive of all faiths.”

Posted by:Fred

#11   tw, according to the accompanying article:

Good catch, Rambler. And congratulations on being a novice -- I've somehow acquired a collection of lay Dominicans, which was never my intention, but all are delightful.
Posted by: trailing wife   2017-08-27 20:49  

#10  
Posted by: Anomalous Sources   2017-08-27 19:55  

#9  Frank - and Bill Clinton (Georgetown)

There's an old joke about the similarities and differences between Jesuits and Dominicans. Similarities: both were founded to fight heresies - the Dominicans to fight the Albigensians; the Jesuits to fight the Protestant Reformation. Both orders have strong missionary and education traditions, sending missionaries around the world, and founding schools and universities as well.

There is one key difference: You don't hear much about Albigensians these days, do you?

Full disclosure: I am a novice in the Third Order Dominicans.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia   2017-08-27 15:20  

#8  At least they're not Jesuits. They gave us Jerry Brown
Posted by: Frank G   2017-08-27 15:14  

#7  tw, according to the accompanying article: "Sister Maureen McInerney, prioress general of the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael, said the plan is to make the K-12 school more inviting to students of all faiths."

So, there are Dominican nuns involved. I don't know how old they are. I do know that our local CATHOLIC high school, they have a number of Dominican nuns on the faculty. The few that I've met do not appear to be elderly.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia   2017-08-27 15:12  

#6  I'm not sure the local bishop has any say in the matter. According to this, it sounds like independent schools are privately funded rather than parochial, despite the fact that this one was founded by Dominican sisters in the 19th century. Given the paucity of non-elderly nuns nowadays, I suspect the number of actual Catholics on staff, let alone proper nuns, is a small percentage of the whole.
Posted by: trailing wife   2017-08-27 14:35  

#5  Local bishops are ultimately in charge of things like this. The school is in San Marin county, which is part of the San Francisco Archdiocese. The bishop should either convince the board to change their minds, or declare that the school is no longer allowed to call itself Catholic.

Of course, Archbishop Cordileone is the archbishop of San Francisco. Nancy Pelosi is one of his flock, and he has not excommunicated her for her open and vocal support of abortion. So, I really doubt he is going to do anything about the San Domenico school.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia   2017-08-27 13:46  

#4  “If you walk on the campus and the first thing you confront is three or four statues of St. Dominic or St. Francis, it could be alienating for that other religion, and we didn’t want to further that feeling,” she said.

So what's the "other" religion that might be alienated? It's not mentioned in the article.
Posted by: JohnQC   2017-08-27 11:37  

#3  And he said unto them, Go you into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Making sure, however, that you do not offend anyone in the process.

Mark 16:15, modified for use in California.
Posted by: Matt   2017-08-27 10:19  

#2  Didn't take long for a Latin Pope from Argentina to separate the Catholic Church from its first love.
Posted by: Hupeting Sforza8196   2017-08-27 03:03  

#1  San Domenico iswas a Catholic school;

FIFY

I'm not catholic but if I were to enter a Catholic School I would expect to see statues of saints, Jesus, and Mary at a Catholic School.

Its kind of like Islamic Schools without explosives....
Posted by: CrazyFool   2017-08-27 01:00  

00:00