‘We’re a family. We’re unified’: St. Pius X supporters rally around parish, school

ALABAMA
AL.com

By Carol McPhail | cmcphail@al.com
on May 31, 2015

Hundreds of parishioners processed around the property of St. Pius X Catholic Church on Sunday and prayed for their parish and school in the midst of accusations over bullying, school mismanagement and allegations involving the priest.

“We’re Catholic. We’re a family. We’re unified,” said John Bruemmer following mass. “We’re going through some dark times, and we’ll come out of it.”

An estimated 500 people, more than twice the usual number at St. Pius X, attended the 10:30 a.m. mass at the Midtown parish. Parishioners said they organized the event to fight back against what they said are unfounded accusations playing out in court and in the media.

“We want everyone to know we’re not going to stand for this anymore,” said Summer Jacobs, a St. Pius parishioner with two children enrolled in the PK4-8th-grade school.

Earlier in May, lawyers for a group of former St. Pius students combined four separate complaints into a 41-page lawsuit that alleges, among other things, that a student brought a gun to school, a teacher was intoxicated on the job, and that school officials failed to stop bullying and covered it up. The lawsuit also contends that St. Pius Pastor Johnny Savoie refused to disclose information related to an accusation that he had a sexual relationship with a minor while serving in Baldwin County almost a decade ago.

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