The principal of a Catholic elementary school in Newtown, Pennsylvania is apologizing to parents this week for using an image of Ellen Degeneres holding an Oscar on an invitation to a school dance.
In a formal email apology, Nancy Matteo told the parents of St. Andrew Elementary School children that it was she was “obviously NOT thinking” when she sent invitations to the 2014 Eighth Grade Graduation Dance, adding that it was “completely wrong” to use an image of Degeneres because she “lives her life outside the teaching of the Catholic Church.”
Matteo went on to claim that Degeneres is a “poor role model,” going so far as to include an actual definition for “role model”:
“A role model, as defined by Webster’s Dictionary, is a person who is unusually effective or inspiring in some social role, job, position, etc.. This does not describe her at all. We work so hard to be good role models and then I go and do something stupid!”
Philly.com reports that the apologetic email also requests that all invitations be returned to the school at once. “I will personally destroy them,” Matteo writes.
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Ken Gavin, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, released the following statement, claiming that Matteo apologized on her own after receiving complaints from parents:
“All Catholic schools in the Archdiocese are firmly rooted in Gospel-based values and the teachings of the Church. As such, it is expected that any promotional materials developed by these schools would feature images and themes that correspond with their core mission and identity. That approach is logical and our school families have a right to expect it.”
Keep on doing the Lord’s work, Nancy!
Ogre Magi
I don’t get why so many LGBT people act like the catholics are better than the evangelicals????
Teeth
I don’t get why an educator who is morbidly obese gets to talk about being a good role model. She’s a walking/waddling coronary waiting to happen. THAT is poor role modeling!
Mezaien
Hahahaha another D.E.K.C.U.F UP Christian bitch. I wonder how she got all that fat on her? just asking.
Tookietookie123
Isn’t gluttony a sin? Yeah, I went there.
SnakeyJ
I don’t normally defend “Christians” but I do feel this woman is being forced to apologize in order to keep her job. She used the image in the first place and everyone knows Ellen D is a lesbian. She must have suffered some backlash and responded as she was instructed.
For those saying she’s not strong or not fighting the good fight, it’s not hers to fight. And she probably, like all of us, needs her job to survive.
Just like people are quick to judge gays & lesbians, we’re also too quick to judge them. The truth is life is complicated.
Throbert McGee
@SnakeyJ: I agree, SnakeyJ — a certain percentage of Catholics are reactionary homophobic bullies, and the bullies definitely won in this case.
That said, the commenters who are attacking the principal for her obesity ought to be ashamed of themselves for confusing the issue.
Because the people you really OUGHT to be attacking are the Catholic-school parents who were too cowardly to tell other Catholic-school parents:
“STFU, losers, Ellen DeGeneres is a secular person who was raised Christian Scientist and has never made any pretense of being Catholic, so she’s not deceiving anyone, and furthermore, Ms. DeGeneres has always been fairly low-key about her lesbianism — she’s living proof that a person can be ‘openly homosexual’ without ‘forcing it down people’s throats.'”
Throbert McGee
Also, Nancy Matteo wrote:
Is it so hard to believe that Matteo was deliberately writing with bitter irony when she claimed that Ellen DeGeneres did not meet the Webster’s definition of “role model”? My guess is that Matteo is an intelligent, gay-supportive woman who fully expected that a lot of parents reading the email would get her ironic meaning.
IcarusD
So Ellen lives her life outside of the Catholic Church, making her a bad role model? Wouldn’t the same be said for at least 75% of the U.S. population that isn’t Catholic? Does that mean that a photo that happened to include any non-Catholic — like, say, Barack Obama or Mitt Romney — would also be inappropriate?
Teeth
Absolutely disagree. Her gluttony and morbid obesity are 100% fair game when the issue is providing a role model. I’d never know who she was or care about her hideous personal choices and poor mentoring except for her actions.
DickieJohnson
One more time: Perhaps the RCC should read again said “Gospel-based teachings”! Jesus did not say one single word about same-sex ANYTHING!!!
jonjct
Queerty: Free of an agenda except for catholic bashing and that gay one.
blackhook
She’s a plump one, isn’t she? …yet another weird homophobe.
Garth
Pure bullshit … just a way to get her panoramic photo on the net . Can you say ” Attention hog “
Stefano
@DickieJohnson : LOL andJesus don’t say a single word about artificial insemination or surrogate mothers !!! LOL
Firewall
Here is a definition for the nice (large) principal: A sow is an adult female pig that has had one or more litters of piglets.
Throbert McGee
@IcarusD:
Well said, IcarusD, and the principal should’ve said the same thing in her email (though I suspect that other people were pretty much telling her what to write).
Officially, the Catholic Church’s position is that an openly gay non-Catholic like Ellen DeGeneres is MUCH less objectionable than an openly gay Catholic like Andrew Sullivan claimed to be for years. (Since Ellen isn’t claiming to be a representative of Catholicism, she’s not misleading anyone.)
So, the principal in this case might have been forced to apologize by a local priest or bishop who was trying to appease the handful of local parents who go around saying “Ellen Degenerate” — the denunciation of Ellen as a bad role-model didn’t necessarily reflect the principal’s own beliefs, and neither did it come all the way from the Pope.