PAWTUCKET, R.I. AP – A fight over athletic fields in this city goes beyond who gets to play soccer where and raises thorny questions about separation of church and state and public aid to religious institutions – divisive issues that have flared repeatedly in heavily Catholic Rhode Island.
Parents of public school students accuse the city of favoring Saint Raphael Academy – a prominent Catholic school and alma mater of city and state power brokers – by granting its football team exclusive use of a public field. They say it’s unconstitutional to give a religious school priority access to a field meant for public use.
