Making a sacrifice for God, not country

10/16/2005, New Haven Register
by Randall Beach


When he was confronted with an ultimatum of keeping an American flag in his classroom or losing his job, Stephen Kobasa decided he had to walk out of that room.
"The sense of loss is deep," Kobasa told me as he sat in his New Haven living room Wednesday, the day before he would be terminated.
Speaking of his students and his teaching job at Kolbe Cathedral High School in Bridgeport, he said, "I've lost something that I loved doing."

Why would he give up that job after five years at that school and 19 previous years at other Catholic schools?

Why would he, at age 57, with two teenage daughters to support, purposely become unemployed?

Kobasa, who is a peace activist and has great reverence for the Gospel and the nonviolent teachings of Jesus Christ, said his conscience compelled him to do this.

As Kobasa said in his unsuccessful grievance to the Diocese of Bridgeport: "My teaching can never take its legitimacy from any symbol except the Cross of Christ."

He added, "To elevate any national emblem to that level would be for me to ignore the fundamental call of Jesus to compassion without boundaries."

During our talk, Kobasa recalled occasions when a curious student would ask why he didn't have the flag on display in his classroom.

"I said it's my understanding that the cross and the flag do not coexist," Kobasa noted. "I have to place my loyalty to the cross."

For the past five years, this was not a problem at the school. But suddenly, at the beginning of this school year, it became an issue when Kolbe Principal Jo-Anne Jakab announced that every day must start with a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.

I wanted to ask Jakab why this policy was enacted this year and if perhaps Kobasa had been targeted because of his beliefs and practices regarding the flag.

But Joseph McAleer, the spokesman for the Diocese of Bridgeport, said that neither Jakab nor Superintendent of Schools Margaret Dames, nor even the Rev. William Lori, who is bishop of the diocese, would answer any questions about this.

Instead McAleer issued a four-sentence statement.

It confirmed "with regret" that Kobasa is no longer on the Kolbe faculty and said, "It is not our policy to comment on any internal personnel matter.

"Our Catholic schools provide a dynamic learning environment in which respect for the opinions of others, as well as respect for school property are both key components," the statement said.

McAleer concluded, "The Diocese of Bridgeport has long believed that the American flag is an important fixture in its Catholic school classrooms."

Through its actions, the diocese clearly values "school property" more than "the opinions of others."

Kobasa told me he would have taken the same stand over any flag, that he doesn't have a special aversion to the Stars and Stripes.

He said he proposed a compromise to Jakab, that any of his students who so desired could say the Pledge of Allegiance, and the flag would then be tucked away for the rest of the day.

"She said this was acceptable," Kobasa told me. "A week later, she told me she'd conferred with the superintendent and this was not acceptable."

Kobasa said his wife, Anne Somsel, who works at the Fair Haven Community Health Center, and his two daughters, Rachel and Clare, have supported his decision.

But he said, "This certainly is going to make questions of lifestyle much more dramatic. There is a sense of uneasiness. Our eldest daughter is applying to college."

He is not accredited to teach at public schools and he doesn't think any other Catholic school will now hire him.

"I'm trying to see this as a grace, as unexpected as it is," he said. "There's other work to be done.

"These are dark times," he said, referring to the war in Iraq and the atrocities in Darfur, Africa. He said perhaps he can help address such suffering.
In recent days, he said he has been "lifted up," when he had a spontaneous dance with his daughter Rachel, and when his students rallied around him.

During a phone interview Friday, his first day out of the classroom, Kobasa said, "I had a lot of good student support yesterday. A number of them were in the hallways with posters: 'Save Mr. Kobasa.'"

"They came to me at the end to say goodbye and to thank me," he said. "It's been a grace to be with them."


Randall Beach can be reached at rbeach@nhregister.com or 789-5766.