SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah teacher on administrative leave apologized Monday for making 9-year-old Catholic student William McLeod wash off the Ash Wednesday cross from his forehead, saying it was a misunderstanding. Patterson was surrounded by parents and students who support her at a news conference held at Utah state capitol in Salt Lake City. “I would never intentionally disrespect any religion or any sacred symbol.”Yahoo Magazines PYCThe incident occurred last week at Valley View Elementary School in Bountiful, Utah. The 330,000 Catholics in the state account for about 10 percent of the population, said Jean Hill at the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City. Patterson was called into a meeting with the principal and the school board about the incident and called Fisher to apologize, Davis School District spokesman Chris Williams said last week.

Source: Huffington Post March 12, 2019 02:26 UTC