Diocese Expels Summer Camp for Disabled Community Seemingly Over Pride Flag Use
Campers at Exceptional Citizens Week celebrating Mass
For more than six decades, the local Catholic diocese supported a New Hampshire summer camp for youth and disabled people. Now, the programs will end.seemingly because Pride flags were used at this year’s camp.
The Diocese of Manchester announced in late October that Camp Fatima, one of two sites administered by the diocese, would be expelling the Exceptional Citizens Week program, which offers “people ages 9 and older with intellectual or physical challenges a week of traditional camp activities such as horseback riding, swimming, boating, arts and crafts, and more at no cost to the camper.” WMUR 9 reported:
“In a statement, Bishop Peter Libasci of Manchester said all programs at Camp Fatima and its sister facility, Camp Bernadette, must ‘create a strong and healthy Catholic culture, remain faithful to Church teaching and, very importantly, reinforce the Camps’ values. These imperatives supersede any one program of the organization and is why E.C. Week will not continue at Camp Fatima.'”
“When News 9 reached out to the diocese for clarification, a spokesperson provided a statement that said, ‘Code of conduct violations occurred during E.C. Week over the years despite the Camp Board of Directors’ efforts to ensure appropriate volunteer behavior and camper safety.'”
Volunteers involved with Exceptional Citizens Week and Camp Fatima generally believe the expulsion has to do with some campers’ use of Pride flags at the camp this past summer. One volunteer, Andrew Johnson, noted, “We got told to take it down, and we didn’t take it down. We left it up all week. . .I think they really disregard how this affects the campers. It’s all about the campers.”
Johnson added, per The New Hampshire Union Leader, “It’s hard to reconcile these supposed ‘values’ with the legacy of compassion and service that E.C. Week represented.” The program is “a magical week every August and offered their caregivers a much-needed respite,” serving some 150 campers each year.
The diocese has not confirmed whether the expulsion is related to the Pride flags. But many commenters on Exceptional Citizen Week’s Facebook page agreed with Johnson’s assessment. The organizers wrote, in part:
“‘We the volunteers, campers, families, and donors are struggling to see the Catholic values of disbanding a program that has faithfully serviced God’s most beloved children. We also recognize the spirit of EC Week remains in each of us and we will continue to work to keep that space alive. This is heartbreaking news, but it will not break us.'”
The Manchester Diocese has said it will be keeping all donations made towards Exceptional Citizens Week, using them for other programs instead.
Joan Vennochi, a columnist for The Boston Globe, commented on this incident in light of global Catholic controversies over gender and sexuality:
“Decisions like this are nothing new for the Catholic Church. . .Depending upon your perspective, however, the real scandal lies in a church that is supposed to be about love and charity, yet makes harsh and discriminatory judgments about who is worthy of it. Even Pope Francis, the most welcoming of pontiffs when it comes to embracing gay Catholics, has a history of sending mixed messages. . .
“These internal battles at the highest levels of the Catholic Church are more than plot lines for a book or movie. With the cancellation of Exceptional Citizens Week, campers and their families lose something precious — a place that values love and inclusion for all. And so does the church.”
—Robert Shine (he/him), New Ways Ministry, November 12, 2024
The reason for cancelled future years needs to be properly confessed by the church who gets to make up all the rules for people, and yet breaks the 2 most important rules Jesus left for us: Love God, Love your neighbor.
This story breaks my heart!
When I was a seminarian at Saint John’s Seminary College (Brighton, MA) in the early 1980s, I and many fellow seminarians worked as counselors at Camp Fatima. I’ll never forget the first EC week when we greeted campers and their parents. I believe the counselor/camper ratio was 5/1 at that time — much less than during the regular season so we could devote more time and attention to each camper.
What I’ll never forget is the arrival of that first camper and his mother who came to our cabin. Mom had her son’s paperwork describing his (dis)abilities and needs. As I looked at his papers, I noticed that is birthdate was the exact same as mine. We shared not just the same birthday, but the exact date. I almost wept! We were both born the same day, month, and year. At the time and for many years since, that experience has been a source of much fruitful meditation about so many things. While my own mother delivered an otherwise healthy baby boy, this mother in front of me was gifted a child on that same day whose needs would place so many more demands upon her. And yet, here she was, lovingly caring for her child and giving him the opportunity that so many “able” children can take for granted … running, playing, hiking, swimming in God’s great outdoors.
The news of this action by the bishop strikes me as so very un-Christ like, and today I do weep. The only time Jesus spoke about the Final Judgment, he reminded his disciples that whenever they turned their backs on “the least of these,” they turned their backs on Him. If the children and young adults who come to EC week are not among “the least” in the eys of the world, then who is? My prayer is that the good bishop have a change of heart and that EC week will once again bring happiness and joy to those children and young adults lucky enough to experience it.
“The Manchester Diocese has said it will be keeping all donations made towards Exceptional Citizens Week, using them for other programs instead.“
Cruelty for closing the camp aside, this seems like it would be very questionable. Funds donated for a specific use should be used for that purpose or returned to the donor. Another option would be for the donors to deduct those funds from future donations.