Today an interesting new twist to the Saint Saviour Elementary School controversy:
Although many Saint Saviour Elementary School parents, alumni and parishioners were under the impression that their Pastor, Fr. Murphy, was solely responsible for the decision not to renew the contract of James Flanagan,
principal of their elementary school, some parents now believe that he was acting on orders from Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, the
head of the Archdiocese of Brooklyn.
In an article in today's Brooklyn Eagle, Fr. Murphy told BE reporter Mary Frost that in his decision not to renew Mr. Flanagan's contract he was just carrying out
Bishop DiMarzio’s long-term vision for the Diocese, a called Preserving the
Vision.
“We need a principal with the leadership skills that look towards the
future…Principal Flanagan has done a superb job, but things
are changing. We need a principal with the vision for that change, so
we can implement Bishop DiMarzio’s plan well. This doesn’t just apply
to St. Saviour, this applies to all the schools in the Diocese…St. Saviour is
a strong school now, and it’s going to remain strong. The principal is
changing, but nothing else is changing. It’s a significant change, but
the only change," Fr. Murphy is quoted as saying.
It is still unclear whether orders to dismiss James Flanagan came from the Bishop or whether Father Murphy was just interpreting the Bishop's edict.
Some Saint Saviour's parents now believe that it was a direct order from the Bishop. But Father Kieran Harrington, spokesperson for the Brooklyn Diocese disputes that interpretation. “We
try to facilitate the process but every decision is made at the local
level. The person who makes the decisions is Father Murphy. He hires,
he fires. He signs all the contracts for the parish. We don’t even set
salaries," he told the Brooklyn Eagle.
Sounds like everyone is shifting the blame. It will be interesting to see if the parents take their protest straight to the Bishop now.
St. John’s Parish had a catholic School on 21st bewteen 5th and 6th Avenues. It’s now condos.
I am a parent of one happily thriving girl in SSES. My “vision” for her future is to remain there and continue to receive the loving, excellent education she has had there since day one in Pre-K (she’s now in 2nd grade). Mr. Flanagan, all his teachers, and all support staff are over the top in the job they do for my child. Most comforting to me is knowing that she is in excellent hands all day long, happy, learning, and most importantly…Loved by everyone involved in her care when I am not with her.
However I still want to know what “visions” our Archdiocese and Pastor Fr. Murphy are seeing. So far, just empty words and now finger pointing? How are we parents to even consider these “visions” when they seem to be coming from those who are blind to our children’s ongoing excellent education in our successful school?
I do have great hindsight, and have past “visions” of the state of Parochial School’s situation in Brooklyn, NY. I’m sick of passing beautiful, now empty and closed Catholic schools all over Brooklyn. Interested to know what “visions” were involved in those cases.