Salt + Light board stands behind Fr. Rosica

Fr. Thomas Rosica has maintained the support of the board of directors of Salt and Light Media Foundation despite admitting to widespread plagiarism.

“We unanimously pledge our support of the continued leadership of Fr. Rosica as Chief Executive Officer of Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation,” Tony Gagliano, chair of the board of directors at Salt + Light, the Toronto-based Catholic media network, said in a statement.

Rosica has acknowledged he has failed to credit his sources in several published articles and lectures and has taken full responsibility for his failures. The scandal has led to Rosica submitting his resignation to the collegium at the University of St. Michael’s College, as well as resigning from the board of directors at the University of St. Thomas in Houston and at St. John Fisher College in his hometown of Rochester, N.Y.

While stating that plagiarism “is always serious and wrong, Gagliano said the work Rosica has done since Salt + Light’s launch is worth continuing.

“For the past 16 years, Fr. Thomas Rosica has worked consistently with young adults on many media platforms and in multiple languages to offer experiences of unity, prayer, celebration, reflection, education, dialogue, thought-provoking reporting and stories of faith and action. This work must continue,” the board said in its statement.

The board said that “where unintended errors were committed,” proper references will be provided and Salt + Light has “heightened the protocol to review all texts to guarantee utmost professional integrity.”

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