St. Gregory's Academy
Template:Infobox School Gregory the Great Academy (previously St. Gregory the Great Academy) is an all-male Roman Catholic boarding school in Elmhurst, Pennsylvania. It was associated with the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter before losing that association due to scandal. It promises a threefold education: spiritual, intellectual, and physical. Students participate in traditional Roman Catholic liturgy, provided with intellectual formation based on the Integrated Humanities Program, and compete in high-school level soccer and rugby. Students participating on those teams won a Pennsylvania Rugby State Championship, and Patrick Audino was named a USA Eagle Rugby Player. The academy was closed at the end of the 2011-2012 academic year. It was formally reestablished in 2013 by the former headmaster, Howard Clark.
The purpose of St. Gregory's Academy was taken from Pope Pius XI’s Divini Illius Magistri:
"The specific and immediate purpose of Christian education is to cooperate with divine grace in forming the true and perfect Christian… the true Christian, the product of Christian education, is simply the supernatural man: the man who feels, judges and acts always and consistently in accordance with right reason enlightened by the example and teaching of Jesus Christ."
Scandals
In or around 1997, Fr. Carlos Urrutigoity took up residence at the school with permission from Bishop James Timlin to start a new religious order: the Society of St. John (SSI).[1] At that point, Fr. Urrutigoity had been expelled from the Society of St. Pius X for sexually assaulting another seminarian. [2] A student at Gregory the Great Academy alleged that Fr. Urrutigoity and Fr. Eric Ensey sexually assaulted him between 1997-1998, and sued the two priests, the SSI, the Diocese, and Gregory the Great Academy.[3][4] Some supporters of Gregory the Great Academy supported Fr. Urrutigoity through the lawsuit, forming the Friends of SSI, notably Sean Fitzpatrick and Garret van Beek who are faculty members of the current incarnation of the school.[5] Moreover, there are numerous allegations that the school faculty, including headmasters Howard Clark and Alan Hicks, knew that Fr. Urrutigoity had students in his rooms and that he frequently gave them alcohol. Hicks and Clark deny these allegations, but were aware that graduating seniors would drink.[6] According to an affidavit from Diane Toler, SSI member Fr. Dominic Carey admitted to her that Fr. Urrutigoity slept with boys and gave them alcohol.[7] In a letter dated February 18, 1999, Fr. Urrugoity wrote to someone named Paul and cc'd both Hicks and Clark, stating he had given students cigars.[7] Fr. Urrutigoity would later leave the United States following a settlement in the lawsuit, only to be found later in Paraguay.[8]
Currently, the school is administered mostly by alumni of the school, some who were present during the scandal. The board of directors for the school includes Howard Clark, Sean Fitzpatrick, and Paul McCleary, a former member of SSI.[9] Sean Fitzpatrick had to step down from being Headmaster in 2019 after being arrested for driving under the influence with his children in the car, but remains the Assistant Headmaster.
External links
- ↑ "The Curious Case of Carlos Urrutigoity (I)--UPDATED | Commonweal Magazine". https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/curious-case-carlos-urrutigoity-i-updated.
- ↑ "The Curious Case of Carlos Urrutigoity (I)--UPDATED | Commonweal Magazine". https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/curious-case-carlos-urrutigoity-i-updated.
- ↑ Doe v. Ensey, 220 F.R.D. 422 (M.D. Pa. 2004)
- ↑ "The Curious Case of Carlos Urrutigoity (V) | Commonweal Magazine". https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/curious-case-carlos-urrutigoity-v.
- ↑ "Gregory the Great Academy Faculty" (in en-US). https://gregorythegreatacademy.org/about-us/our-faculty/.
- ↑ "#112 in Doe v. Ensey (M.D. Penn., 3:02-cv-00444) – CourtListener.com" (in en-us). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4372949/112/doe-v-ensey/.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "#107 in Doe v. Ensey (M.D. Penn., 3:02-cv-00444) – CourtListener.com" (in en-us). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4372949/107/doe-v-ensey/.
- ↑ "The Curious Case of Carlos Urrutigoity (VIII) | Commonweal Magazine". https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/curious-case-carlos-urrutigoity-viii.
- ↑ "Shibboleth Authentication Request". https://login.proxygw.wrlc.org/login?qurl=https://www.guidestar.org%2fprofile%2f26-2994486.