The illegality and immorality of the conduct of the De Matha athletes arranging
online to hire prostitutes are indisputable. But what about the response of
the school authorities expelling the students?
Petula Dvorak says that “ The
De Matha players betrayed the school’s strict moral code….( “ No surprise to
find kids wading into digital swamp” 9/11, B1) A Catholic school has more than a
strict moral code. It has a Catholic mission central to which is dealing with
sin and repentance and central to this are:assurance of intention not to offend
in this way again, an appropriate penance and forgiveness with restoration to
the community.
Expelling the students short circuits this process and results
in failure to expose students to the wider religious issues. Surely, students
and parents could have been summoned to a dialogue with the authorities, and
alternatives could have been offered such as a week long retreat with each
student having a spiritual director and at the conclusion the students could
have gone through the confessional process and rejoined the school after,
perhaps, a description to the student body of what had transpired in the
religious area. By now the students know the culprits but they have no model
for how religion works in a meaningful way.
Paul Surlis, Crofton
The
writer is a Catholic priest.
__________________
.
This entry was posted on September 26, 2012 at 7:27 pm and is filed under Political Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Paul Surlis's Blog
De Matha Scandal
The illegality and immorality of the conduct of the De Matha athletes arranging
online to hire prostitutes are indisputable. But what about the response of
the school authorities expelling the students?
Petula Dvorak says that “ The
De Matha players betrayed the school’s strict moral code….( “ No surprise to
find kids wading into digital swamp” 9/11, B1) A Catholic school has more than a
strict moral code. It has a Catholic mission central to which is dealing with
sin and repentance and central to this are:assurance of intention not to offend
in this way again, an appropriate penance and forgiveness with restoration to
the community.
Expelling the students short circuits this process and results
in failure to expose students to the wider religious issues. Surely, students
and parents could have been summoned to a dialogue with the authorities, and
alternatives could have been offered such as a week long retreat with each
student having a spiritual director and at the conclusion the students could
have gone through the confessional process and rejoined the school after,
perhaps, a description to the student body of what had transpired in the
religious area. By now the students know the culprits but they have no model
for how religion works in a meaningful way.
Paul Surlis, Crofton
The
writer is a Catholic priest.
__________________
.
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This entry was posted on September 26, 2012 at 7:27 pm and is filed under Political Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.