Padua Academy Principal Cindy Mann urges students to both love and forgive

Padua Academy Principal Cindy Mann on Monday urged her students to forgive the pastor who fired her and to move forward with their hearts filled with love and grace.

"I had to face this, and it is not easy," 68-year-old Mann said. "But our faith calls for forgiveness. So when someone does you wrong, we're not told that we have to like that person, we're told we have to love that person."

She said that she and the Rev. Nicholas Waseline, pastor at St. Anthony of Padua Parish, will talk in days and weeks to come.

"But long before this happened, I forgave him, and I hope that he forgave me," she said. "Because hatred puts a wall up between you and God.

"And my core value says that ain't happening. Nothing is worth that. I want a straight clear vision of my God. No wall between us. I will forgive, and I do forgive."

In a school-wide assembly, Mann detailed her firing and how she relied on her faith in the days following it. Emails revealed Mann had questioned the financial relationship between the parish and the school, resulting in her termination.

On Feb. 2, Waseline, the 67-year-old pastor of St. Anthony parish, ordered that money be assessed against Padua Academy in the form of a "stewardship collection," according to an email dated that day. Mann questioned the justification for the assessment in an email to the school's Board of Trustees.

"I went over to the rectory Friday afternoon, a few weeks ago, and I walked in and I was fired, and I was fired for insubordination, meaning I didn't follow a rule," Mann told students, saying it was important for them to understand what had happened. "And I didn't follow a rule. I didn't follow the rule of signing a letter. Because I didn't agree with what the letter said. And I knew there would be consequences. I didn't think I would be fired because I didn't think it was insubordination. I thought it was a disagreement."

On Feb. 15, parents received a letter informing them tuition would be going up. At the end, it included a separate message from Waseline, who explained that the parish would be collecting a stewardship collection from Padua Academy to make up for a dearth of offertory contributions.

By 2021, the school would be paying the parish $275,000 a year, it was later revealed.

Mann was terminated about a month later, on Friday, March 16.

The principal said she could only ask God why. She was not allowed to return to the school and talk to her students or her close friend Vice Principal Mary McClory, Mann said.

"Truly, I knelt beside my bed and I prayed. And I prayed, and I prayed," Mann told students and staff.

She said she kept getting the same answer back from God: "Be still and know that I am God."

"So I waited," Mann said. "And I waited and I waited and I waited."

She waited until Monday when she woke up to the news students were sitting outside the school protesting her termination.

"And there you all were. There you were! There you were! Each and every one of you, and you were making a statement on my behalf," she said.

"Girls, if ever in your life you were an angel, believe me, you were an angel that day. Because I cannot tell you what that did for me. I wasn't alone anymore," she said. "That weekend was a very dark weekend. Because I didn't know who Mrs. Mann was without all of you. I just didn't know who I was without you. Because you're too big a part of my life."

Parents and students hung ribbons outside the school Sunday to welcome Mann back. They were solemn during much of the assembly on Monday but cheered when Mann gave their vice principal a pair of pink shoes, a symbol of her gratitude for McClory leading in her absence.

"It was just kind of darker and more quiet without her," sophomore Alivia Roberts said of Mann. "I was really frustrated and confused at first, but now that we have her back I feel like we can move on and forgive."

Mann was reinstated just days before Good Friday and Easter, holidays commemorating the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Her dismissal set off a series of protests and threatened to divide the Catholic community in the midst of Holy Week, with some strongly in favor of Mann's reinstatement and others less than eager to see her return.

After her termination, Mann hired Wilmington attorney Thomas Neuberger, whose law firm represented most of the 150-plus abuse victims who filed suit against the diocese and religious orders in Delaware in the early 2000s.

He oversaw negotiations to get Mann rehired, and said firing her was an example of sex discrimination. Neuberger said Mann had a heart attack last spring, and that the conflict was threatening her health.

After some back and forth between the St. Anthony of Padua Parish, the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington and Neuberger, Mann was reinstated.

"Fr. Waseline took this action in the best interests of Padua Academy and its students, and in the hope that Mrs. Mann and he can work together for the benefit of both the academy and the parish," the Diocese said in a statement. "Mrs. Mann may return to work as soon as her treating physician certifies that she is able to resume her duties as principal."

The statement said Mann and Waseline will talk about the renewal of her contract and that the parish was willing to consider a two-year renewal.

Mann said Monday that she is happy to give money to the parish, but it must be a reasonable amount. The contributions discussed would have put Padua Academy out of business, she told students.

"I hope we can come to some great conclusion about that," she said after the assembly.

She also told students she would not be swayed from doing what is best for Padua Academy. Mann said the girls had not only helped her get reinstated but sent a strong message to the church.

"For two years prior to my firing, I was fighting for you and these financial problems," she said. "No would listen. No one would listen. I got doors slammed in my face over and over and over again, by many people.

"And then that Monday came. So not only did you help me spiritually, you helped this school like you could never have imagined. They never listened to me, until I had you. Nobody listened to me until you had a voice and you said, 'I agree. Enough is enough'."

Contact Jessica Bies at (302) 324-2881 or jbies@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @jessicajbies.