Maggie Hall writes in Support of Stephen Kobasa:

TO:    Most Reverend William E. Lori, Bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport          
          Dr. Margaret A. Dames, Superintendent of Schools          
          Mrs. Jo-Anne Jakab, Principal, Kolbe Cathedral High School

Is the name of your high school coincidental to what you're teaching the students? Doesn't your administrative office find any inspiration in the holy example of Maximilian Kolbe, the saint its name honors? As St. Maximilian Kolbe wrote, "How does God reveal His will? Through His representatives on earth....There is only one exception, and that is when a superior commends one to do what clearly, evidentur, without a doubt, would be sinful, even in the smallest degree....For then the superior would not be a representative of God; and we are not subjects of any man."

Unfortunately, your firing of Stephen Kobasa for refusing to display the U.S. flag in a Catholic school classroom places your administration under the exception that St. Maximilian Kolbe wrote about. Just as he came under fire from the Nazis for refusing the toe the line of political expediency, you are punishing Mr. Kobasa for taking a similar stand. Man's symbols can never stand over God's; witness the example of the Nazis' "approved" Christian churches and the multitudes of religious people they butchered to make their point. Blessed Titus Brandsma and St. Edith Stein were just two of the religious they murdered to attempt to prove the power of the temporal Nazi regime over the eternal Church. China also has "approved Catholic churches" that are a satanic mockery of the teachings of the True Church.

I was under the impression that as Roman Catholics we are Catholic before we are members of any nation.  Doesn't "catholic" mean "universal"? Our Catechism and the Gospels are "catholic"; the American flag is not. Our Catholic flag is the Cross, not the Stars and Stripes. The early martyrs went to their deaths because they stood in protest against the idols of the Roman state. You're asking Mr. Kobasa to place a symbol of the state on the same level as the Cross and punishing him for speaking out. What are you teaching the young people in his classroom? The students are being told that it's not enough to be a good Catholic following the example of the Church's first martyrs, but that they must also worship the State. As Mr. Kobasa points out, "national loyalty is being valued over faithful obedience to the Gospel." Our Church was founded upon St. Peter, who speaks for Mr. Kobasa in Acts 5:29 when he tells his flock, "We must obey God rather than men."

Had Mr. Kobasa been fired for teaching anti-Catholic principles in his classroom, his dismissal would have been legitimate. After all, many parents make sacrifices to educate their children in parochial schools so they learn our faith. Mr. Kobasa's desire to place his Catholic principles above a symbol of the state is a lesson I would want my four Catholic children to learn. It's a shame that so many Catholic schools have become pricey private schools instead of choosing to remain institutions that teach the real principles of our Church.  I don't remember any Bible verses that ask that the state's symbols be displayed anywhere near God's and, yes, I did attend parochial school. I find the actions of the Diocese and of Kolbe Cathedral's administration shameful. Mr. Kobasa has long been an example for other Catholic activists who believe in making peace and loving one's neighbor.

I can't help but think you're making him an example of what can happen when a Catholic schoolteacher actually tries to teach Catholic principles that might offend a few moneyed parents whose tuition keeps your school afloat. In the secular world, that's called being a sellout.

I urge the Diocese to reinstate Mr. Kobasa immediately, to ask his forgiveness and to embrace him in the spirit of our Catholic faith.

       Christ's peace to you,
       Maggie Hall, Dunedin, FL