Oregon Live reported that the longtime principals of All Saints K-8 School and the Madeleine School resigned following the archbishop’s guidelines, and at least three faculty members at St. Rose School had their contracts rescinded after refusing to sign a pledge that they would uphold the guidelines.
The article also reported that an ad hoc group of parents and educators formally requested a meeting with Sample to express concerns about the guidelines. More than 1,000 people in the archdiocese’s Catholic community signed statements opposing the guidelines, according to the article.
Sample also received pushback from at least one member of the clergy, Father Mike Biewend, the pastor of Madeleine Parish, who spoke in favor of former Madeleine School principal Carol Glasgow, who opposed the guidelines. He said the guidelines do not affirm “the preciousness of every child.”
“All of us know about the so-called guidelines put out by Archbishop Sample,” Biewend said during a homily at the June 13 Madeleine School eighth grade graduation.
“Miss Glasgow has given up her paycheck,” he continued. “... Did you know that she’s given up her career? Did you know that everything that she’s done in her professional progression to be principal and there on, she said in conscience, [she] cannot in good conscience, support what the archbishop is asking her, as a leader, to do.”
Biewend said that is who he wants as a principal: “Someone who’s going to teach you to always live by your conscience and a conscience that’s informed with the preciousness of every child.”
Sample’s recommendations are in line with the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education, which published a document on June 10, 2019, rejecting gender ideology titled “Male and Female He Created Them.”
This article was updated June 29, 2023, to reflect the archdiocese's latest statement on the temporary closure of its Department of Catholic Schools.
Tyler Arnold is a staff reporter for Catholic News Agency, based in EWTN News’ Washington Bureau. He previously worked at The Center Square and has been published in a variety of outlets, including The Associated Press, National Review, The American Conservative, and The Federalist.