Holy Cross, Batman!

By Rosalie Tirella

More rattling/interesting stuff re: the City of Worcester-Holy Cross slug-fest (better than a T-Day football game!):

1. Telegram and Gazette reporter Bronislaus Kush covers religion for the Telegram & Gazette and anything Holy Cross. Kush, a good ol’Vernon Hill boy, attended St. Mary’s (very Catholic/Polish) elementary and junior - senior high schools on Richland Street, in Worcester. That’s 12 years of Catholic school! I oughta know - I was sorta there with him - I attended catechism class at St. M’s every Monday night, after attending Worcester’s illustrious public schools! (I was at St. M’s from grade 1 all the way through Confirmation.)

The St. Mary’s experience has no doubt made Kush a softie when it comes to reporting the dirty deeds done by Holy Cross students and stafffers. After graudating from St. Mary’s High School, “Bronny” Kush went onto Boston University, but I’m guessing even the super secular BU couldn’t undo the damage done by St. M’s (did I mention the nuns were scary?).

2. Kush is married to Kathy Robertson, a spokesperson/big wig at Holy Cross college (she’s assistant to the president - Rev. McFarland). Why would Kush make his wife’s school look bad? Why would he jeopardize her job at Holy Cross? Simply put, he wouldn’t.

Do not expect Kush to come out with anything blantantly negative about Holy Cross. HC students’ bad/lewd behavior will always be underplayed in Bronny’s articles.

Another disconcerting point:

My God! Holy Cross owns half the neighborhood! When I read Bronny’s article listing the multi-family buildings on Caro Street (8!) Holy Cross owns, I was amazed! It seems “The Cross” bought them up to hem in their drunken students - of which, according to the article, 300 live off campus. I cannot believe 300 people can wreak such havoc. What probably happens: the Holy Cross parties start at the Caro Street three deckers, the rest of the HC student body hears about them and then books it like mad to the Caro kegs!

What’s worse than this bad behavior? Holy Cross’ president, the Reverand McFarland, deciding to raze the 8 buildings on Caro Street. Is Father McFarland thinking: Build the three deckers and the drunkards will come. Demolish them and they will go away.

If so, that’s a wretched way of dealing with the students’ bad behavior - treating Holy Cross students as if they were spoiled little kids. If you can’t play nice with Worcester’s three deckers, why then we’ll take them away!

District 4 City Councilor Barbara Haller was right when she said it’s a shame the neighborhood is losing a bunch of housing stock - that the face of the neighborhood has changed, thanks to HC. Housing that would make great low-income housing, if Holy Cross wanted to do the true CATHOLIC thing and house the poor, is being demolished by a Catholic institution! Or better yet, Holy Cross - if they didn’t want to go into the landlord biz - could sell the buildings to first-time, low-income Worcester home buyers. This again, would have been the Catholic thing to do.

But Father McFarland has zippo in common with Jesus Christ. I have seen Rev. McFarland at city meetings, re: the PILOT program. He spoke for all the colleges at one meeting I attended at City Hall. His arrogance was amazing and ultimately insulting!

Jesus Christ would be ashamed.