The president of Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana has left the school in the wake of an alleged hazing scandal involving its storied football program.
Father Walter E. Jenkins, who started at Mater Dei in July, stepped down at the end of the winter break, according to a letter sent Saturday by Erin Barisano, the superintendent of schools for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange.
Jenkins, a priest, will return to South Bend, Ind., to “take on a new assignment” with his religious order, the Congregation of Holy Cross, Barisano said.
His departure follows weeks of controversy for Mater Dei’s powerhouse football program and longtime head coach Bruce Rollinson. A lawsuit filed in late November by the family of a former football player accused Mater Dei and the Diocese of Orange of trying to cover up a brutal locker room altercation that left the player with a traumatic brain injury.
Mater Dei spokeswoman Allison Bergeron said Jenkins was not fired, and that there is “no connection between the litigation and his departure.”
“To make such a connection is deeply unfair to Father Jenkins, who served Mater Dei well during his tenure,” she said.
….The Diocese of Orange will choose a replacement for Jenkins, Bergeron said. Until a new president is hired, the school will be led by Principal Frances Clare and a team of assistant principals, she said….
The above comes from a Jan. 1 story in the L.A. Times.
This is why I no longer trust the Catholic Church. Such lies. He wasn’t fired and there is no connection between his departure and the litigation? Lie. To make a connection is deeply unfair to him? Lie. He served Mater Dei well during his tenure? Lie. He only started there in July: six months ago. What possible reason could there be for his departure if it’s not the scandal? If he served well during the past six months, then why is he leaving? They don’t even give it the false cover of personal reasons or health. They are lying.
I don’t trust the church. The hierarchy lies. The diocesan bureaucrats lie. School administrators and spokesmen lie. Priests lie. It’s a church of lies.
They play this game of trying to maintain appearances and denying the obvious. Everyone knows what’s going on. Why are they lying about it?
Kevin, actually there is less prevarication that meets the eye. For it is true that Fr. Jenkins was not fired. Someone above him would have had to have called him in and give him the hook. If he resigns at the advice of the same, that is not a firing Also: there is “no connection between the litigation and his departure” is true. It is the incident itself, and not the litigation surrounding it, that occasions his leaving. So technically, Allison Bergeron is telling the truth. That said, I don’t disagree with you on the mendacity angle for some prelates. Thank God for those of impeccable honor.
And the cover up has already begun. The Diocese of Orange is scrubbing their press release archive of any mention of Fr. Jenkins coming to Mater Dei.
This is the address where the February 2021 press release was:
https://www.rcbo.org/mater-dei-high-school-names-new-president/
Oops! Not found. Wonder why not? Scrub, erase, delete. Cover up.
This is a cached version of the press release, in which they gush over their new president, who only lasted six months:
https://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?q=jenkins+hired+mater+dei+president&d=4743602684561518&mkt=en-US&setlang=en-US&w=Lzugyr-Oy19tJG9A4jkvNKO3tilowLfv
They Lie.
In situations like this, when the higher ups want someone to go but don’t want the bad publicity of firing that person, they make an offer of severance or consideration that is nigh impossible to refuse. Fr. Jenkins has taken a vow of poverty, so the large severance payment would go to the C.S.C. instead of to him personally. The person voluntarily resigns, everyone keeps his mouth shut or has signed a non-disclosure agreement, and then they let the story fade.
The head football coach, Rollinson wins again. Shameful!
Maybe you don’t realize that the real religious faith of Catholic high schools isn’t Catholicism. It’s sports. They bow down to Ball. I know first-hand.
Is he related to Fr. John Jenkins CSC of the same religious order and president of Notre Dame?
I used to teach at a Holy Cross high school that sadly drifted far from the faith.
From last spring: “More than a decade after the University of Notre Dame venerated President Barack Obama at its commencement ceremony, sparking a public outcry from 83 bishops, Notre Dame could soon honor President Biden – a dissenting Catholic who is stridently opposed to the Church on abortion, gender ideology, and religious freedom. The university claims a tradition of inviting sitting U.S. presidents to deliver commencement addresses. But alumni are urging the school not to repeat the 2009 fiasco.”
Fortunately, Mr. Biden skipped Notre Dame’s graduation, but, unfortunately, still goes for Holy Communion.
The school sports programs bring in millions for the school each year. They recruit elite athletes from all over the state and even nationally. They are like paid mercenaries. Their top player’s family lives in Stockton. Their recent Heisman winner’s family resides in Pasadena. He was at Cathedral before they recruited him. It’s a “win at all costs” culture, which breeds thuggery and his little to so with Catholicism.