WINNIPEG, Manitoba, December 1, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Catholic school principal in Winnipeg has been sacked after a controversy broke over his decision to encourage students to join the local 40 Days for Life campaign.
David Hood, the now-former principal of Christ the King elementary school, was suspended and then reinstated in October after telling the Winnipeg Free Press that he was considering allowing grade 7 and 8 students to attend the prayer vigil to satisfy a community service requirement.
The cause of Hood’s termination is unclear, and the Archdiocese of Saint Boniface, which oversees the school, has refused to comment on the case.
Hood’s comments to the Winnipeg Free Press Oct. 11th had sparked a media firestorm with calls for the school, which receives 50 percent of its funding from the government, to lose its public funding for promoting “political” activism.
Though Hood had insisted students’ participation in the 40 Days for Life would be voluntary and with parental involvement, the comments reportedly enraged some of the parents at the school, while others were fully supportive of the move and their children’s involvement. The archdiocese and the school’s board of directors immediately distanced themselves from his comments.
The archdiocese’s Director of Education Robert Praznik insisted that the Catholic schools would not give community service credit for a “political activity.” (See Oct. 13 CBC news segment that includes interivew with Director of Education Robert Praznik and 40 Days for Life organizer Maria Slykerman.)
Praznik told LifeSiteNews that the archdiocese’s schools would not get involved with the 40 Days for Life because of its ties to Campaign Life Coalition, a national pro-life group that works to secure full legal protection for the unborn.
When the school reinstated him on Oct. 25th after the suspension, they claimed Hood’s promotion of the 40 Days campaign had “created a very difficult atmosphere for everyone,” but that they had agreed to “move forward” with him as principal.
Archbishop Albert LeGatt himself has participated in the city’s 40 Days vigil, which takes place outside Women’s Hospital, and even was the speaker at the midpoint rally last fall.
LifeSiteNews did not hear back from Praznik by press time.
He told the Winnipeg Free Press on Thursday that Hood has been replaced by Paula Morrison, but would not comment on Hood himself. “It’s our policy not to comment on personnel matters,” he said.
Hood told LifeSiteNews that he is not commenting on the situation.
Contact Information:
Most Rev. Albert LeGatt, Archbishop of Saint-Boniface
151, avenue de la Cathédrale
Saint-Boniface, MB R2H 0H6
Tel: (204) 237-9851
Fax: (204) 231-2652
E-mail: [email protected]
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