Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio will not step in and save the job of a beloved Catholic elementary principal — despite an outpouring of support from parents at the Park Slope school.
Rev. Kieran Harrington, spokesperson for the Diocese of Brooklyn, said last week that DiMarzio has no plans to reverse a decision by the St. Saviour’s pastor, Rev. Daniel Murphy, to fire Principal James Flanagan after 25 years at the Eighth Avenue school.
“We’ve heard the protestors, but ultimately, the decision rests with the pastor,” Harrington said. “He’s the one who hires and fires.”
Harrington’s comments came after weeks of regular protests by parents, both at the school and at the diocese office in Fort Greene.
“We’re the ones who support Catholic education, but we’re the ones being rolled over,” Cathy Hunt, a mother of two, told The Brooklyn Paper recently. Hunt, who has organized marches in support of Flanagan, added, “You don’t just pull out the leadership when a school is so successful.”
Murphy is on vacation and unavailable for comment, according to a St. Saviour’s staffer.
