Cardinal’s name to be removed from high school
Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik on Wednesday cited a request from Cardinal Donald Wuerl himself in the decision to remove the former Pittsburgh bishop’s name from Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School amid growing public pressure.
An online petition urging the change listed about 7,500 names when Bishop Zubik announced that the school in Cranberry will be called by its historic moniker: North Catholic High School. Cardinal Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington, D.C., faces broad scrutiny over his handling of predatory priests when he was Pittsburgh bishop from 1988 to 2006.
A grand jury report released Aug. 14 said he shielded clergy who sexually abused children — a claim he denies. The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh didn’t have any choice but to pull Cardinal Wuerl’s name, said North Catholic alumnus Rich O’Laughlin, 48, who began the
petition drive a week ago.
“I think he should have been more aggressive getting these priests and brothers out of the picture,” said Mr. O’Laughlin, of Dallas, Ga. The cardinal “doesn’t deserve the honor of having his name on a school like that.”
Mr. O’Laughlin wanted the petition effort to focus attention on the grand jury report and to help remove the Wuerl name, “for the kids who have to go there and see it every day. With how teens are nowadays, I’m sure they’re catching grief.”
Bishop Zubik said he considered the petition, input from school offic i a l s and Cardinal Wuerl’s appeal before agreeing to the name change. He said the cardinal didn’t want his name to become a distraction in school — a wish that became the deciding factor.
“My concern is first, foremost and always for the students, that nothing overshadows their Catholic education,” Bishop Zubik said in a statement.
The Washington archdiocese offices did not respond Wednesday to a request to interview Cardinal Wuerl. In an Aug. 16 letter cited by the Pittsburgh Diocese, the cardinal wrote that he did not want to “detract from the purpose of Catholic education.”
“I respectfully ask you to remove my name” from the school, Cardinal Wuerl wrote. “In this way, there should be no distraction from the great success of the school and, most importantly, the reason for the school — the students.”
An announcement over the public-address system relayed the name change to students about 11 a.m. Wednesday, said a North Catholic junior, who requested to remain anonymous. Classmates smiled and appeared happy “because everyone was mainly aware of what happened with Wuerl,” he said.
Restoring the shorter North Catholic handle will better unite both alumni and students under a single institutional name, the student said. The Cranberry building opened in 2014 under the Wuerl name and replaced the former North Catholic High School in Troy Hill.
“I feel like there’s rejuvenation with the alumni because many were upset his name was on there.” The student said he was disappointed that “it took so long to decide to remove the name.”
Bishop Zubik said diocesan and school leaders followed specific policies and procedures to execute the change. He relayed “undercurrents” of concern to Cardinal Wuerl when they spoke last Thursday, he said.
Cardinal Wuerl then wrote his request, which went before the school’s board of directors. It met Friday and recommended the name change, according to the diocese.
“We were primarily following Cardinal Wuerl’s request,” said Glenn Buterbaugh, the North Catholic board chairman. “It was a concern of the board that the whole discussion of the name was not benefiting the students.”
A separate board overseeing diocesan Catholic high schools cleared the recommendation Monday. Bishop Zubik, diocesan schools superintendent Michael A. Latusek and the Very Rev. Lawrence A. DiNardo, the general secretary, concurred it was the best approach, the bishop said.
Board members still wanted him to highlight Cardinal Wuerl’s support for Catholic education, he said. Bishop Zubik did so in a news release, noting the school had been named earlier to recognize the cardinal’s “efforts to preserve and expand Catholic education opportunities for the children of Pittsburgh — regardless of religion and regardless of need.
“At a time of great economic upheaval for the people of Pittsburgh and financial stress for our diocese, he made education a priority,” Bishop Zubik said.
Still, North Catholic alumnus Dennis Payne, 39, hesitates over putting any person’s name on a building because “that can be tarnished at any second,” he said. He expressed relief over the name change.
“The distraction is over, and kids can get back to doing kid things, in kid situations, and not have to think about this adult situation right now,” said Mr. Payne, of West Deer. “They can focus on being in school.”