Catholic education and self-inflicted wounds [View All]

[struggle4progress]

August 2, 2011, 1:20 pm
Posted by David Gibson

... The pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in the Bronx, a parish whose 200-student grade school serving mainly black and Latino kids, two years ago hired a noxious right-wing racialist to run the school.

The principal, Frank Borzellieri, has written for white supremacist organizations, and says “diversity is a weakness” and growing black and Hispanic populations in America will lead to a “New Dark Age.” His latest book is titled “Lynched: A Conservative’s Life on a New York City School Board,” and “documents his eleven years as the only conservative and Eurocentrist on this ultra-liberal school board.” A 2004 book is titled “Don’t Take It Personally: Race, Immigration, Crime and Other Heresies,” and pictures Borzellieri with a baseball bat on his shoulder — a particularly troubling image given the history of baseball bat attacks in New York City ...

Especially troubling though, is that Mount Carmel’s pastor, Father Eric Rapaglia, knew of Borzellieri’s views, and was warned against hiring him by other Catholic educators. But Father Rapaglia told the Daily News, which reported the story on Sunday, that he didn’t “see any cause for concern” when he hired him ...

... Tuesday, the Archdiocese of New York said in a statement that Borzellieri has been dismissed because “his writings were found to be incompatible with the philosophy and practices of Our Lady of Mount Carmel School, and with Catholic schools throughout the Archdiocese" ...

http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/blog/?p=14644