An Un-Valentine to the Archdiocese of Hartford

A Un-Valentine to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford: 

Sacred Heart High School can stand proud of its almost 100-year history contributing to the welfare of individuals and society. Its closure–and the closure of Catholic grammar schools and high schools across the country, already devastating but sped up by the economic pressures of the pandemic—was not a surprise, but no less heart-breaking.

What I find most troubling about the continuing closure of Catholic schools—both my grammar school, St. Francis-St. Hedwig in Naugatuck (closed 2018) and now Sacred Heart (Class of 1990)—is the inability of church and school administrations to recognize that its complete lack of transparency and inability to meet the contemporary world and its needs has resulted in distrust and a turning away from its outdated management style.

The challenge to remain viable is significant for any business in the twenty-first century, but especially for a global religious organization centered in the power of one man in Rome. What happens in Rome doesn’t stay in Rome—it trickles down to local communities like Waterbury. How are these relationships between the Mother Church and its worldwide communities sustained through the diocese? What role does money play in these relationships? Who are the winners and who are the losers?

This weekend we celebrate Valentine’s Day, named for St. Valentine, a martyr figure drawn from multiple sources during the era of the Ancient Romans. There won’t be any feasting this Valentine’s Day in Waterbury, courtesy of the Archdiocese of Hartford and Roman Catholicism itself. Greater Waterbury will be poorer in many ways for losing its #heart.