Indianapolis, Ind., Aug 5, 2019 / 15:30 pm
A Jesuit-sponsored high school in Indiana has asked the Vatican to overturn Indianapolis Archbishop Charles Thompson's decision to revoke the school's Catholic identity, and announced that a scheduled Mass for the opening of the academic year is not permitted at the school.
Fr. William Verbryke, SJ, president of Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis, announced this week that the Jesuits have begun the process of appealing a June decree from Thompson, which said that the Archdiocese of Indianapolis will no longer recognize the school as Catholic.
"The appeal process is being led by Fr. Brian Paulson, S.J., the Provincial of the USA Midwest Province of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), and his staff, in conjunction with input and support from our school leadership," Verbryke wrote in an Aug. 4 letter.
"The first stage of the appeal involved formally requesting that the Archbishop reconsider and rescind his decree. He declined to do that. We are now in the second stage of the appeal, in which Fr. Paulson, on behalf of Brebeuf Jesuit, has asked the Congregation for Catholic Education in Rome to consider and address the issues at hand and, hopefully, suspend the effects of the decree during the appeal process."