Nolan Catholic rescinds Episcopal bishop’s nomination to alumni hall of fame
The principal of Nolan Catholic High School has rescinded the nomination of Episcopal Bishop Carlye Hughes to the alumni hall of fame over her views on abortion.
Hughes graduated from Nolan Catholic before she moved to New York City where she worked in human resources as a corporate trainer for 20 years before she answered the call to the priesthood.
She was consecrated in 2018 as the 11th bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark, New Jersey, and was the first woman and African-American bishop of the diocese.
Nolan Catholic alumni received an email from principal Oscar Ortiz, who said Hughes’ views on abortion were at odds with the Catholic Church.
Ortiz could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon. Hughes did not reply to an email requesting comment.
Janae Tinsley, a childhood friend of Hughes, provided a copy of the email to the Star-Telegram.
Ortiz wrote that Hughes was nominated because of her “great perseverance in the service of others.” Ortiz also wrote that information came to light concerning Hughes’ “public advocacy on issues that are directly opposed to the Church’s teaching.”
Ortiz wrote that being nominated to the hall of fame for leadership means one must show a Catholic understanding of what it means to be a leader.
“It cannot condone moral teachings that are directly opposed to the truth of the human person, his or her gender, or the value of human life in the womb.”
Pat Svacina, a spokesperson for the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth, said this was a school-based decision and referred questions to Ortiz.
Tinsley said that she and others graduates are “outraged” that the the nomination was rescinded.
“She clearly, clearly meets all of the criteria. It doesn’t mean that you have to be Catholic,” she said. “I’ve been Catholic all of my life. No one is going to agree a hundred percent with the Catholic Church.”
Hughes wrote a guest column for the Newark Star-Ledger in which she stated that a woman’s choice to end a pregnancy is personal. She criticized Justice Samuel Alito’s opinion as trampling on a woman’s right to make a personal and private decision.
Hughes was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but grew up in Fort Worth, where she attended Our Lady of Victory and then Nolan Catholic High School.
She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in drama from the University of Texas. She later attended Virginia Theological Seminary and earned her Master’s of Divinity in 2005. She also served at a church in New York and as rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Fort Worth.
Her father, Robert Hughes Sr., is the nation’s winningest boys basketball coach and a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He won five state titles in 47 years at Fort Worth’s I.M. Terrell and Dunbar.
“Bishop Hughes just wants us to let it go because that is her spirit, but somebody’s got to pick it up and fight,” Tinsley said
