Majerus Is Criticized for Pro-Choice Stance
A Roman Catholic archbishop said Tuesday that he would ask officials of St. Louis University to take “appropriate action” against its basketball coach, who said in a television interview that he supports abortion rights.
Rick Majerus, one of the game’s winningest coaches, made the comment at a weekend rally for the Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton.
St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke declined to say what the action against Majerus should be, saying it was a decision for officials at St. Louis, a Jesuit university.
“I’m concerned that a leader at a Catholic university made these comments,” Burke said by telephone as he attended March for Life anti-abortion events in Washington. “It can lead Catholics astray. I just believe that it’s of the essence for people to understand as a Catholic you just cannot hold these beliefs.”
In an interview with KMOV-TV at Saturday’s Clinton rally in suburban St. Louis, Majerus identified himself as a Catholic and called himself pro-choice. The St. Louis University spokesman Clayton Berry said Majerus was at the rally as an individual, not as a representative of the college.
I would bet that St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke could have a full-time job trying to police all the Catholic staff and faculty at St. Louis University uttering views that run counter to Catholic teaching.
It's a Jesuit university. It would be shocking to learn that Catholic faculty and staff weren't challenging the Church's teaching.
I think it is important to note that Rick Majerus is a basketball coach. He's not teaching theology. Furthermore, Majerus was not speaking on behalf of St. Louis University. He wasn't speaking on behalf of Catholics. When he voiced his pro-choice stance, he was speaking for no one but himself.
In an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Majerus spoke out for the first time since all the uproar.
Surprised by the reaction to his pro-choice, pro-embryonic stem cell research comments made Saturday night at a Hillary Clinton political rally, St. Louis University basketball coach Rick Majerus spent part of Wednesday morning on the phone, trying to calm his elderly mother.
"She was upset, thinking I was going to be excommunicated from the Catholic Church, and that I would be denied Communion during Mass," Majerus said Wednesday night, in his first public comments over a controversy that included a strong rebuke from St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke. "But she told me to keep doing what I thought was right, just as my parents taught me."
I feel sorry for Majerus' mother.
It's often forgotten that these public controversies involving public figures touch private people, too, impacting them personally.
...[I]f Burke is expecting an apology or silence from Majerus, it won't happen. If Burke hopes Majerus will fall in line with the Roman Catholic church's official positions on these two issues, it won't happen.
During an exclusive 90-minute conversation Wednesday, Majerus was civil and respectful in his comments made about Burke. But make no mistake: Majerus is unyielding, and defiant.
"I'm very respectful to the archbishop," Majerus said. "But I rely on my value judgments, thanks to my education at Marquette, which is a Jesuit institution, just like St. Louis. And that Jesuit education led me to believe that I can make a value judgment. And my value judgment happens to differ from the archbishop's.
That sounds like a Marquette education.
I don't know if Majerus did Marquette any favors by stating, in effect, that "Marquette made him to do it."
"I do not speak for the university or the Catholic Church. These are my personal views. And I'm not letting him change my mind. I think religion should be inclusive. I would hope that all people would feel welcome inside a church, and that the church would serve to bring people together, even if they happen to disagree on certain things."
...Majerus said he has not heard from Burke, or the SLU president, the Rev. Lawrence Biondi. But Majerus is confident that Biondi supports his right to express personal views. Attempts to reach Biondi on Wednesday were unsuccessful.
Majerus said he would welcome a visit, or a conversation, with Burke.
"But in the end, it wouldn't make a difference," he said. "Because the archbishop would still believe in what he believes, and I would still stick with my beliefs."
I can't imagine these comments going over very well with Archbishop Burke.
The fact is Majerus' beliefs regarding abortion and embryonic stem cell research are not consistent with the stance of the Catholic Church.
Nonetheless, I'm sure Fr. Biondi will support Majerus' right to speak freely, in the Jesuit tradition.
And I don't think the university will reprimand him in any way.
It's up to Majerus to reconcile his identity as a Catholic and his beliefs that are not in line with the Catholic Church.
I think Majerus should meet with the Archbishop and discuss the matter privately rather than via the press. This war of words is a bit unseemly.
In the end, both Archbishop Burke and Majerus have to answer to God.
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