Book Does Not Reflect Cathedral’s Values

Book does not reflect Cathedral’s principles

By Richard Barajas / Guest columnist

Article Launched: 09/02/2007 12:00:00 AM MDT

I write in response to the well-written editorial by Mr. Ramon Renteria found in the Living Section of the El Paso Times on Sunday, Aug. 19. The editorial piece was titled “Powers’ book isn’t welcome at Cathedral.”I write not in disagreement with the column, but to clarify matters that more fully define Cathedral High School as it relates to the contents of “The Confessional,” the book by Ms. Jessica Powers.

Since 1925, Cathedral High School has existed to teach minds and to touch hearts. It has existed over the generations to help young men develop their spiritual, moral, intellectual, social, physical, and cultural gifts in the spirit of a Christian Brothers education.

Our students are educated in order that they may contribute productively to the Church, our local international communities, and indeed the world.

There can be no question that our principal, Mr. Sam Govea, at my urging, correctly cancelled a previously scheduled appearance by Ms. Jessica Powers. The book, promoted as fiction, does feature characters at an all-male paro chial high school in El Paso, Texas.

The fact that advance press materials specifically noted that “Cathedral High School is featured in the ‘The Confessional,’ ” and that students are invited to guess which character in the book represents them, only added to my legal concern that a novel, otherwise promoted as fiction, was dancing dangerously close to a work of nonfiction with possible legal consequences beyond our control.

“The Confessional,” while being enthralling, is a murder mystery which in the first six lines of the first chapter describes instances of conduct inconsistent with established principles of religious education. The novel describes activity that contradicts the culture that has existed at Cathedral High School for generations.

The fact that this thought-provoking book details murder, violence, questions of faith, border racial tension, sexual promiscuity, sexual assault of a child, and questionable priest-penitent language is of no moment.

The simple fact is that a premier Catholic institution such as Cathedral High School should not embrace nor promote such a literary piece.

To have done so would have been contrary to what parents and alumni want and expect from a Christian Brothers education.

As noted in Mr. Renteria’s column, students past and present are greeted with an invitation that has been heard since 1925, “Enter to Learn.”

What was not noted was that behind him, immediately across the “Enter to Learn” greeting, is a sign admonishing these same students at the end of the day to “Leave to Serve.”

It is the principles of a Christian Brothers education that has inspired countless elected and appointed graduates to serve our communities as judges, mayors, commissioners, lawyers, doctors, and parents.

It is what makes us different.

It is what makes us Cathedral.

Chief Justice Richard Barajas (Ret.) is the former chief justice of the Eighth District Court of Appeals, now sitting by assignment. He is currently the director of the Center for Advanced Studies at Cathedral High School in El Paso.