February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Last year, Our Lady of the Presentation School in Brighton was scheduled for
closing by the archdiocese because of declining enrollment and financial problems.
Following widespread protest, the archdiocese extended the life of the school until June 10, 2005.
But when rumors surfaced last week that angry parents and community activists were planning to stage an extended protest by occupying the building on Friday, graduation day, the archdiocese sent security guards to the school on Wednesday, changed the locks, and notified parents that alternative graduation ceremonies would be arranged.
“It was disgusting what they did to our children these last few days,” said
Siobhan McHugh, a native of Tuam, Co. Galway who has two children at the school.
“My daughter was up to eleven o’clock crying after we got the call from the archdiocese.”
In press statements, the archdiocese explained that its drastic measure was necessary in order to protect the children from “unruly situations” which might stem from a hostile takeover of the building.
The archdiocese has been embroiled in ongoing controversy surrounding the closing of churches in and around the city, and it was evidently seeking to head off another protracted disruption by nipping the protest in the bud.
Archbishop Sean O’Malley, who assumed his post in July 2003, was widely praised initially for quickly settling lawsuits involving more than 500 clergy sexual abuse cases, this following months of stalled negotiation.
But he has been under fire since then over church closings, having shut down 63 of the archdiocese’s 357 parishes over the past year.
Another 18 may be closed later this year. Eight of the closed parishes are currently occupied by protestors who want O’Malley to reverse his decisions.
On Monday, after a weekend of passionate clamor and a flurry of activity by church officials and community leaders, O’Malley met for three hours with parents and leaders of the Presentation School Foundation.
O’Malley said afterward that he regretted the pain caused by “the unpleasant events of last week and the misunderstandings.”
Both sides described the meeting as cordial and productive. They discussed a possible sale of the building to a community group that seeks to use it for social services and educational programs in the Brighton community.
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts, meanwhile, criticized Mayor Menino and other local politicians for jumping into the fray last week.
“You can cut the hypocrisy with a knife,” said C.J. Doyle, executive director of the organization. “The mayor and most of those politicians have done absolutely nothing for Catholic schools and in fact have spent most of their political careers opposing Catholic values,” he said.
O’Malley and the Presentation School Foundation plan to meet again in about two weeks to discuss a possible sale of the building.