Principal’s God-given rite
Public-school priest in Ash Wednesday ire
A Queens principal who’s also an ordained Catholic priest smudged the foreheads of select staffers in school on Ash Wednesday — outraging some teachers who said his rite was just wrong.
Joseph A. Miller, principal of IS 77 in Ridgewood, administered the ashes on March 1 in his office during the school day, according to sources.
“He did it for 15 to 20 adults, but all of them are favored staff,” said one Catholic teacher who was not invited. “Anyone who is not on his good side was not asked if they wanted ashes.”
The ritual didn’t seem kosher, the educator added: “It’s a public school, for God’s sake!”
It’s not clear who spurred the schoolhouse service, but some of the chosen were summoned to the principal’s office, sources said.
Another teacher who did not get Miller’s blessing reported feeling uneasy.
“He’s promoting his religion to the teachers,” this worker said. “Why couldn’t they go to church and get the ashes?”
Ash Wednesday involves putting ashes — made from burnt palm leaves — on the heads of Catholic faithful. The custom typically includes the words, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
A spokesman for the city Department of Education thinks Miller may have erred.
“Public schools are not permitted to endorse or promote a particular religion or belief system, and we are reviewing the specifics of this allegation,” Will Mantell said.
Miller did not return calls or e-mails seeking comment.
Miller, 56, was ordained a priest by the Diocese of Brooklyn in 1989 after earning a master of divinity degree from the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington, LI.
In staff meetings, Miller “gives a lot of good sermons” on various topics, one teacher said.
“We call it the homily,” the educator explained.
In 1992, Miller “resigned from active ministry,” according to Diocese of Brooklyn spokeswoman Carolyn Erstad. He was not accused of any wrongdoing and left in good standing, she said.
Priests who resign from active ministry may not perform mass or sacraments such as baptisms, weddings, confessions and anointing the sick. Administering ashes is a long-held tradition but not a sacrament.
“Miller is still a priest and could potentially return to active ministry if he so desired,” Erstad said.
Such priests may pursue other careers but must keep the vows they made to God, including “celibacy and obedience,” officials say.
After teaching in a Catholic school, Miller joined the DOE in 1992 and became IS 77 principal in 2003. He holds a master’s degree in education from the College of New Rochelle, and a certificate in thanatology, the study of death, he told the Hospice Foundation of America.
As an educator, Miller has focused on grief counseling. In his first year in a public school, a student died.
“I remember the staff struggling to deal with the death and the fact that there was so little support for them,” he told the foundation.