[WASHINGTONTIMES] An independent Catholic school in San Anselmo, California, has sparked the ire of some parents after officials removed and relocated a large number of religious statues, reportedly including those of Jesus and Mary, in order not to alienate children of other faiths.Amy Skewes-Cox, who heads San Domenico School’s board of trustees, said at least 18 of the 180 religious icons still remain at the school as part of a plan approved unanimously by the board last year, the Marin Independent Journal reported.
Ms. Skewes-Cox said the timing of the statues’ removals and the national statue debate spurring from the unrest in Charlottesville, Virginia, is an unfortunate coincidence and have “absolutely no connection other than it is change, and people have a hard time with change.”
“If you walk on the campus and the first thing you confront is three or four statues of St. Dominic or St. Francis, it could be alienating for that other religion, and we didn’t want to further that feeling,” she said.
Sister Maureen McInerney, prioress general of the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael, said the plan is to make the K-12 school more inviting to students of all faiths.
“San Domenico is a Catholic school; it also welcomes people of all faiths,” she told the Marin Independent Journal. “It is making an effort to be inclusive of all faiths.”