By Jesse Serwer
In a move last month intended to narrow the age gap between college students and campus ministers, the diocese declined to renew the contracts of Sister Kathy Riordan of Hofstra, Sister Katherine Hickey of the New York Institute of Technology, and Sister Elizabeth McGarvey of SUNY-Farmingdale. Recent graduates of Catholic universities will take their place, according to the Rev. Brian Barr, director of the Campus Parish of Long Island, who has been charged with implementing Bishop William Murphy's plan to strengthen the church's presence on college campuses and among young adults.
But opposition has grown on all three campuses since the announcement of the impending dismissal. It culminated in last week's protest, which brought more than 100 protesters to L.I. diocesan headquarters on North Park Avenue, where they chanted and held signs proclaiming "Save Our Sisters."
"Sister Kathy Hickey has done so much for our campus - she is a constant presence and an advisor and friend to many students," said Melissa Navia, editor of the Campus Slate, NYIT's student newspaper. "There are so many people supporting [the nuns]. We are not going to let them go quietly."
Navia said students are not satisfied with the answer they have been given as to why Hickey and the other nuns must go. "We don't think bringing in younger people is going to change anything," she said.
Riordan, Hickey and McGarvey appeared briefly at the rally, and were met with cheers. All three have been asked recently not to comment on their dismissal because of their continuing discussions with the church.
"Before, we thought they were going to be transferred somewhere else, but they are being terminated because they didn't fit in with Brian Barr's new model," said Keasha Gurrier, a member of NYIT's Catholic student organization, the Newman Club.
Several hours after the demonstration, Murphy's office issued a statement stating that the bishop was "personally upset" by the reaction to the dismissals, and that he and his senior staff had met earlier that morning with the Sisters of Saint Dominic in Amityville and the president of the Sisters of Saint Joseph in Brentwood in "an effort to facilitate communication and to bring about healing and reconciliation."
The statement, issued by Sean Dolan, the diocese's director of communications, continued, "Some of the upset is due to misstatements in the news media. Bishop Murphy is doing everything he can to work with each of the constituencies involved to reach a fair and equitable agreement."
Critics of the nuns' dismissal have suggested that the move constitutes age discrimination, and is an attempt to replace relatively autonomous but active nuns with young people who will be more easily controlled by the diocese and adhere more strictly to conservative church doctrine. "Other folks around here have asked what kind of message is being sent when someone reaches a little bit of an older age, and they suddenly become dispensable," said Hofstra's Jewish chaplain, Rabbi Meir Mitelman, who works with Riordan at the school's Interfaith Center. "I think there could be value to bringing younger folks on campus along with Sister Kathy, but I certainly don't think it's a good idea to have younger folks instead of her. Students, when they want to talk to someone, will not want to look to someone a year or two older than themselves, but to someone who has some experience and wisdom. Sister Kathy is someone who is very much a part of the larger campus community. She is present at university-wide campus events when she doesn't have to be, because she cares about what goes on here."
Comments about this story? JSerwer@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 221.
