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“My family is three generations at this church,” said protest supporter Meghan Murphy, who wore a shirt that said “Be you.” Many of the adults participating in the protest said the harsh treatment of the student does not reflect their experience of the church prior to July, when Lombardi took over as pastor. Giordano) “I have felt in danger recently” Noting that “the church teaches that every person be treated with respect, compassion, and sensitivity,” he said the Archdiocese understands the concerns about what happened and is “working on plans to bring together the community to discuss this in an open, honest and listening way.”Ī classmate stands up for a student who was told to remove her Pride shirt. “It was the school administration that initiated the request,” he said. Kendzierski disputed the eyewitnesses who said Lombardi directed the principal to have the student remove her Pride shirt. Francis of Assisi is a Catholic parish and school that upholds the tenets and teachings of the Catholic faith.” “The attire contained imagery and language with a message that could be determined to oppose teachings of the Catholic Church,” Kendzierski wrote. In a statement emailed this afternoon, Christian Kendzierski, executive director of communications for the Archdiocese, defended Lombardi’s actions, offering this explanation for why the student “was asked to change their attire before returning to the classroom:” “I’m going to remain peaceful today,” he said, referring The Brew to the Archdiocese of Baltimore. “For marginalized orientations and gender identities.” she said, and the congregation answered with some extra volume: “Lord, hear our prayer.” ***Īs the priest and congregants filed out of the church, located at 3615 Harford Road, Lombardi refused to discuss the incident. Going off script, lector Beatrice Messaris managed to slip a blunt message about the incident in at the end of the intercessions, the call-and-response portion of the service:
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Introducing the congregation’s Confirmation class, Lauren Voos noted that “All are Welcome” and “My heart is full of pride.” (The tagline of his sermon was “Christ’s kingdom twists human fiefdoms.”)īut subtle acknowledgment up front came from two officiants, both of whom wore pride masks. If Lombardi noticed the plethora of gay pride masks dotting the congregation in the pews today, he showed no sign of it. Francis of Assisi Church after a student was told to remove a shirt affirming gay rights. “I’m very proud of these kids,” said his father, Sean Hines, who stood with his arm around his son and also wore a pride mask to the church service.Ī show of support at St. “It was like asking her to take off a piece of her family,” said Hines, of Lauraville. The way they asked her to take it off was really embarrassing,” said Liam Hines, another 7th grader. “I think it was really awful what happened. Hoffman said the students organized this show of support as a way to stand with their classmate whose mother is gay.
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Many also wore white tee shirts with the rainbow-hued message, “I am a child of god.” He and dozens of other students, as well as parents and other adults, showed up at the church wearing rainbow-striped gay pride Covid masks.
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“For the rest of the day, everyone was very angry about it,” said her 7th grade classmate, Dylan Hoffman, speaking at this morning’s mass. The teacher made her remove it in front of the other students as they stood at the back of the church. “Jack” Lombardi’s direction, witnesses told The Brew, the school principal directed the homeroom teacher to tell the girl her shirt would have to come off. Francis of Assisi Church in northeast Baltimore, the shirt caused a stir:Īt Father John J. She had worn it before on relaxed-dress-code days with no problem, she told The Brew.īut this past Friday, at the end of the mass that she and her classmates attended next door at St. Francis of Assisi School, wearing a favorite old tee shirt with a gay pride message on “Dress Down Day” was nothing new.