Catholic high school suppressed student newspaper article, drawing wide attention to it

The Denver Post obtained a mock-up of the Holy Family Lamp Post page that never saw its intended Christmas-edition print publication. The un-bylined article, bearing the headline "Where are the girls? Holy Family prohibits girls from serving at the altar," features an interview with Father Joseph McLagan, a priest new to the school who decided girls would no longer be allowed to serve at the altar during Mass.

In a statement provided by the Archdiocese of Denver, Holy Family High Principal Matt Hauptly said the article "was implying" the school was breaking Title IX laws when altar serving is a religious and liturgical function within Catholic Mass that does not fall under federal gender-equity protection.

"Removing an article that falsely accused the school of breaking the law is not censorship," Hauptly said in the statement. "It is actually a lesson in the responsibility that comes with being a journalist."