The Diocese of Covington walked back its earlier harsh condemnation of Covington High School Students accused of racism. On its website today there is only one message and all pages are shut down except the following.
On Monday afternoon the Covington Police alerted us that they had intelligence concerning a planned protest, Jan. 22, at Covington Catholic High School and a vigil at the Diocesan Curia. Due to threats of violence and the possibility of large crowds the Diocese was advised to close Covington Catholic High School, the Diocesan Curia and neighboring Covington Latin School. We thank law enforcement officers for their protection and will reopen when they say it is safe to do so.
Concerning the incident in Washington, D.C., between Covington Catholic students, Elder Nathan Phillips and Black Hebrew Israelites the independent, third-party investigation is planned to begin this week. This is a very serious matter that has already permanently altered the lives of many people. It is important for us to gather the facts that will allow us to determine what corrective actions, if any, are appropriate.
We pray that we may come to the truth and that this unfortunate situation may be resolved peacefully and amicably and ask others to join us in this prayer.
We will have no further statements until the investigation is complete.
This call for a thorough investigation would have been welcome news to the parents of the students when the event occurred. Instead, the diocese issued a harsh condemnation of the students without having all the facts just moments after the viral video was widely misreported in the news. The original statement, which is no longer available on the website, even threatened expulsion.
We condemn the actions of the Covington Catholic High School students towards Nathan Phillips specifically, and Native Americans in general.
The matter is being investigated and we will take appropriate action, up to and including expulsion.We know this incident also has tainted the entire witness of the March for Life and express our most sincere apologies to all those who attended the March and all those who support the pro-life movement.
After more video surfaced that showed that Nathan Phillips was the aggressor and had lied about several facts, there was a loud cry from the public for journalists and the diocese to withdraw their false statements and apologize. The Diocese of Covington left its condemnation up for several days, only changing it today after the cries of injustice grew to a deafening roar.
Catholics are outraged at the way their children have been treated by their spiritual fathers. Priests, like James Martin and Edward Beck, have widely condemned the students publicly without waiting for facts. Beck is sticking to his guns even after watching the videos of the students being mocked and harassed by racist activists calling them “dirty crackers” and “incest babies,” and Native American protesters telling them to “go back to Europe.”
My feelings about the #CovingtonBoys are unchanged since the first reporting and viewing many different videos. The boys acted inappropriately and chaperones should have intervened. And boys should not have been permitted to wear MAGA hats if they were representing the school.
— Father Edward Beck (@FrEdwardBeck) January 21, 2019
At least Martin offered a half-hearted apology.
Dear friends: I regret wading into the #Covingtoncontroversy this weekend. For it seems that we may never know what was going on inside the hearts of the students. So I would like to apologize to them for my judgment of them. 1/
— James Martin, SJ (@JamesMartinSJ) January 21, 2019
As the mother of a Catholic son who I thought would be going to Catholic school, this situation sickens and disgusts me. The men who are supposed to be the spiritual fathers of our kids wasted no time and no thought before coming out to condemn them. The actions of the bishop of Covington and the imprudent statement of condemnation is a shameful stain on Catholic leadership. It shows, yet again, a drastic lack of empathy for children. It’s not enough that they have been caught repeatedly forgiving child molesters and hiding them from us, but they are continuing to offer up their understanding to those who would harm our children instead of showing mercy to minors in their care. The very people in charge of teaching our kids the tenets of the faith which include self-control, restraint, and mercy are the very ones throwing that all out the window in order to virtue signal to heathens that they are politically correct. I would like to give them a lesson on what the Catechism says about their rush to judgement and condemnation of fellow Christians.
“2478 To avoid rash judgment, everyone should be careful to interpret insofar as possible his neighbor’s thoughts, words, and deeds in a favorable way: Every good Christian ought to be more ready to give a favorable interpretation to another’s statement than to condemn it.” Shame on the diocese. Shame on these priests.
Catholic schooling was the last option available to parents who could not homeschool but wanted their children protected from the anti-Christian, pagan atmosphere of the public schools. We pay thousands of dollars for it and the men taking the money are offering our kids up to be sacrificed on the altar of Moloch and the very pagans they are supposed to be shielding them against! If the parents supporting these schools don’t rein in the bishops, there will be no further use for Catholic schools at all and we should all withdraw immediately.
Contact the Bishop of Covington and your local bishop today and let them know you #StandWithCovington.
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