Catholic Prep School OKs Muslim Prayer; Some Parents Protest

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BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MI – A dozen or so angry parents whose children attend a Bloomfield Hills Catholic prep school have raised questions about Muslim students’ use of a reflection room for prayers.

Brother Rice High School President John Birney said that when the students approached him about a place to pray, he approved their request in keeping with the school’s non-discrimination policy. Students of other faiths use the room, too, he said.

“We have somewhere in the vicinity of 5 or 10 of the boys who want to do this on a regular basis, but I also just found out we have a Tibetan Buddhist in our school who also uses the room,” Birney told WKBK-TV. “So, sometimes, this focus on, ‘It’s Muslim,’ I guess the way I would view it, we’re a Catholic school; we continue to teach the Catholic faith and continue to celebrate our faith but we have other faiths here.”

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Birney told WXYZ-TV that students at the all-boys high school don’t seem to be bothered by the accommodation of their peers’ non-Catholic religious beliefs. The outcry came exclusively from parents, he said.

WXYZ pursued the story after getting emails from parents, including one woman who called the prayer room “unconscionable” and said her son’s paid religious education would be “undermined.”

The school received similar correspondence. Birney said he told parents that he respected their opinions, but would check with the Archdiocese of Detroit and other religious experts before changing the school’s policy on accommodating non-Catholic prayer.

What he found was that the policy is “consistent with what the Archdiocese teaches.”

“In fact, the Bishop last week issued a statement about respecting other faiths and the importance of freedom of religion,” Birney told WJBK. “We checked with all the Catholic universities in the Archdiocese, they do this. I found out yesterday, in fact, all the Catholic hospitals in town do this.”

John Everley, whose sons attend Brother Rice, told WJBK that students accept that “we have to live in this world together as Christians, Muslims, whatever.”

“I see the parents; they’re worried,” Everley said. “They see things out there but, the worst thing is to separate and assume the worst about everyone.”